Retrospective study on the prevalence of Babesia species in traumatic cases of dogs presented to Veterinary Teaching Hospital, ABU Zaria, Nigeria from 2008 – 2018

Abstract

Babesia infection is increasing in prevalence and is now a major problem in dogs. During this study, a total of 358 case-files recorded between 2008-2018 (11 years) were retrieved from the Small Animal Clinic of the Veterinary Teaching Hospital, Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, with the chief complaint of trauma of different forms. These dogs were registered in the clinic and were on routine veterinary medical care before presentation for trauma. For each case, the Protozoology laboratory results were matched with the records from the Small Animal Clinic reception to determine whether there was Babesia species in the blood, precipitated by the trauma. Statistical analysis showed that 3.1% of the dogs presented with traumatic injuries within the study period were found to be positive for Babesia species. Male dogs (3.6%) with traumatic injuries were more prone to the infection than female dogs (2.3%), whereas the prevalence of Babesia species was higher in younger dogs (17.4%) with same condition than older age groups (2.1%). Crossbreds (7.5%) with traumatic injuries were more prone to the infection than the exotic (4.5%) and local breed (0.9%). However, none of them were completely resistant. Statistical analysis of the data obtained showed that there was a significant association between the presence of Babesia species and the age and breed of dogs with traumatic injuries that were presented to the clinic. This study has shown that traumatic injuries could be a predisposing factor to Babesia infection in dogs.

Keywords: Babesia, Blood, Case-files, Dogs, Prevalence, Trauma, Zaria