1Department of Veterinary Parasitology, College of Veterinary Science, Guru Angad Dev Veterinary and Animal Sciences University (GADVASU), Ludhiana, Punjab, India
2Department of Animal Genetics & Breeding, College of Veterinary Science, Guru Angad Dev Veterinary and Animal Sciences University (GADVASU), Ludhiana, Punjab, India
*Corresponding author: H Singh; Email: drharkiratsingh@hotmail.com
Online published on 15 June, 2017.
Canine hepatozoonosis, caused by Hepatozoon canis, is transmitted by the ingestion of brown dog tick, Rhipicephalus sanguineus. In the present study R. sanguineus ticks (n=60) collected from dogs presented at Small Animal Clinics, Teaching Veterinary Clinical Complex, GADVASU, Ludhiana, Punjab, India were screened by PCR based assay for the detection of H. canis specific 18S ribosomal RNA gene fragment. Results of the PCR assay revealed an overall prevalence of 8.33% H. canis infection in the tested ticks. Furthermore, the male ticks showed higher prevalence (11.53%) than the female counterparts (5.88%) but the data was statistically non-significant (P=0.6439).
Dog tick, Hepatozoon canis, PCR, Punjab, Rhipicephalus sanguineus
