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									Kafkas Üniversitesi Veteriner Fakültesi Dergisi									
																			
										2024 , Vol 30 , Issue 2									
																	
								
								
								 
											        			
											        			Prevalence and Molecular Characterization of Tick-Borne Pathogens in Dogs in Northeast Anatolia Region, Türkiye 
											        			
											        			
											        			 
											        					
											        					1Kafkas University, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Department of Parasitology, TR-36100 Kars - TÜRKİYE 
											        			
											        		
		
											        															        				
													        			DOI : 
													        				10.9775/kvfd.2023.30303 
													        			
												        													        			
		
											        			 
											        				This study was carried out to determine the prevalence and molecular characterization
of tick-borne pathogens (TBP) (Babesia spp., Theileria spp., and Hepatozoon spp.) in
asymptomatic dogs in the northeast Anatolia region of Türkiye. Blood samples of 400
clinically healthy dogs were analyzed using PCR and RLB techniques. TBP prevalence
and the relationship between habitat, gender, age, and breed of dogs were determined
by using the R package prevalence (version 0.2.0.) and the Pearson chi-square statistics.
Babesia spp., Theileria spp., Hepatozoon spp. DNAs were detected in 13% (52/400)
of the dogs by PCR, while the prevalence of TBPs was 24.25% (CI: 20.24-28.62) by
subsecuantial RLB assay. Sequence analysis of two Theileria ovis, two Babesia canis and
two Hepatozoon canis isolates showed 100% identity with the corresponding reference
isolates. In this study, Theileria ovis positivity was detected for the first time in dogs in
the northeast Anatolia region of Türkiye. 
											        			
											        			
		
											        			
											        			Keywords : 
											        				Dog, Molecular characterization, Prevalence, Tick-borne pathogens 
											        				
											        	
		
	







