Haemoparasites in pet and shelter dogs of Kathmandu Valley

Abstract

Haemoparasitic infections in dog are a significant economic burden worldwide but have received less attention than that of rabies. Present study was carried out in shelters and pet dogs from March to August 2021 in Kathmandu valley. Purposive sampling was carried out to take a blood samples from shelter and pet dogs irrespective of age sex and breed. About 3 ml of blood was collected in a clean ethylene diamine tetraacetic acid (EDTA) tube from a saphenous, cephalic, or jugular vein with the help of veterinary technicians. Altogether 200 blood samples from dogs were collected. Among them, 100 blood samples were collected from shelter home Lalitpur (Sneha’s care) and 100 blood samples were collected from domestic dogs, which were brought to Central referral animal hospital Tripureshwor. All the information like owners' name, address, sex of dogs, age of dogs, breed of dogs were taken. Similarly, presence and absence of tick in dogs was also noted. Hematological analysis was performed to complete blood counts using haematology analyzer. A thin blood smear was prepared for the examination of haemoparasites. Data were analyzed in SPSS software to test significance. A total of three species of haemoparasites, Babesia, Anaplasma, and Ehrlichia sp. were recorded in this study. Pet dog’s parasitic prevalence was recorded at 18%. Among them, male dogs were found to be the higher prevalence (11%) followed by females (7%). Similarly, shelter dogs showed a 31% of prevalence. Among them, 21% of males and 10% of females were affected by haemoparasites. The age, sex, and breed of the dogs found to have no statistically significant effect on the prevalence of haemoparasites. However, significant difference was noted between ticks-infected dogs with haemoparasitic prevalence. Hematological analysis revealed a significant decrease in red blood cell count (P<0.05) in Parasite-positive dogs. However, other blood parameters like platelets, packed cell volume, haemoglobin, lymphocytes, monocytes, and eosinophil and basophils were not found to be correlated in haemoparasites in both shelter and pet dogs. Hence, dogs of Kathmandu valley need to treat haemoparasites regularly in order to break the transmission chain.