First Evidence of Rickettsia conorii Infection in Dogs in Northern Tunisia
Abstract
:Simple Summary
Abstract
1. Introduction
2. Materials and Methods
2.1. Dogs and Blood Sampling
2.2. Collection and Tick Processing
2.3. Clinical Data and Cell Blood Count
2.4. Serological Analysis
2.5. DNA Extraction
2.6. PCR Amplification
2.7. DNA Sequencing and Data Analysis
2.8. Statistical Analysis
2.9. Nucleotide Sequences Data
3. Results
3.1. Clinical Examination of Dogs
3.2. Tick Infestation of Dogs
3.3. IFAT Test
3.4. Hematological Alterations
3.5. PCR Analysis
3.6. DNA Sequencing and Data Analysis
4. Discussion
5. Conclusions
Author Contributions
Funding
Institutional Review Board Statement
Informed Consent Statement
Data Availability Statement
Acknowledgments
Conflicts of Interest
References
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Risk Factor | Nb of Seropositive Dogs/Nb of Tested Dogs (%) [95% CI] | OR (95% CI) | p-Value |
---|---|---|---|
Age (year) | |||
<1 | 20/57 (35.1) [22.91–48.87] | Reference | <0.0001 |
[2–7] | 46/65 (70.8) [58.17–81.40] | 1.820 (1.068–3.101) | |
>7 | 9/14 (64.3) [35.14–87.24] | 1.353 (0.632–2.897) | |
Sex | |||
Male | 38/74 (51.35) [39.44–63.15] | Reference | 0.330 |
Female | 37/62 (59.68) [46.45–71.95] | 1.40 (0.7–2.77) | |
Breed | |||
Watch dogs | 59/109 (54.13) [44.32–63.71] | Reference | 0.523 |
Hunting dogs | 9/13 (69.23) [38.57–90.91] | 1.625 (0.692–3.818) | |
Pet dogs | 7/14 (50) [23.04–76.96] | 0.722 (0.322–1.619) | |
Tick infestation | |||
Infested | 16/34 (47.06) [29.78–64.87] | Reference | 0.274 |
Non-infested | 59/102 (57.84) [47.66–67.56] | 1.54 (0.7–3.36) | |
Lifestyle | |||
Confined | 61/111 (54.95) [45.22–64.41] | Reference | 0.924 |
Outdoor access | 14/25 (56) [34.93–75.60] | 1.04 (0.43–2.49) | |
Season | |||
Cold | 4/16 (25) [7.27–52.38] | Reference | 0.0098 |
Warm | 71/120 (59.17) [49.82–68.05] | 1.96 (1.31–2.30) |
GenBank Accession Number | Blast Analysis | Similarity (%) | Host (Country) | Nucleotide Positions * | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
406 | 439 | 444 | 595 | 922 | ||||
OR 399543 | MF511249 | 99.54 | Ixodes persulcatus (China) | A | C | A | C | G |
OR 399544 | MT178338 | 99.41 | Dermacentor nuttalli (China) | A | G | A | T | G |
OR 399545 | MT178338 | 99.41 | Dermacentor nuttalli (China) | A | G | A | T | G |
OR 399546 | MT178338 | 99.41 | Dermacentor nuttalli (China) | A | G | A | T | G |
OR 399547 | MT178338 | 99.41 | Dermacentor nuttalli (China) | A | G | A | T | G |
OR 399548 | MT178338 | 99.54 | Dermacentor nuttalli (China) | T | G | G | A | A |
OR 399549 | MF511249 | 99.7 | Ixodes persulcatus (China) | T | G | G | A | A |
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Gharbi, Z.; Ouni, A.; Balti, G.; Bouattour, A.; Chabchoub, A.; M’ghirbi, Y. First Evidence of Rickettsia conorii Infection in Dogs in Northern Tunisia. Vet. Sci. 2024, 11, 402. https://doi.org/10.3390/vetsci11090402
Gharbi Z, Ouni A, Balti G, Bouattour A, Chabchoub A, M’ghirbi Y. First Evidence of Rickettsia conorii Infection in Dogs in Northern Tunisia. Veterinary Sciences. 2024; 11(9):402. https://doi.org/10.3390/vetsci11090402
Chicago/Turabian StyleGharbi, Zeyneb, Ahmed Ouni, Ghofrane Balti, Ali Bouattour, Ahmed Chabchoub, and Youmna M’ghirbi. 2024. "First Evidence of Rickettsia conorii Infection in Dogs in Northern Tunisia" Veterinary Sciences 11, no. 9: 402. https://doi.org/10.3390/vetsci11090402