Occurrence of babesia species and co-infection with hepatozoon canis in symptomatic dogs and in their ticks in Eastern Romania

Although the distribution of Babesia spp. and Hepatozoon canis is well known in Romania, there is still a marked lack of information in many places of the country. This study aimed to investigate the occurrence of these haemoparasites in symptomatic dogs and in their ticks in Iasi, eastern Romania. Ninety owned dogs were subjected to clinical examination at the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine of Iasi and all detectable ticks (58 ticks from 15 dogs) were collected. Additionally, 124 ticks collected from the coat of other dogs (no. = 23) were included. Three Babesia species were found in dogs: Babesia canis (94.4%), Babesia vogeli (3.3%), and Babesia rossi (2.2%). All the dogs resulted negative for H. canis. The ticks were identified as follows: Ixodes ricinus (64%), Dermacentor reticulatus (33%), and Rhipicephalus sanguineus group (3%). B. canis (Minimum Infection Rate; MIR = 81%), B. vogeli (MIR = 3%), and Babesia microti-like piroplasm (MIR = 1%) were found in ticks. Moreover, 15 ticks were positive for H. canis, 6 were co-infected with B. canis, and 1 with B. microti-like piroplasm. This is the first molecular identification of B. rossi in two symptomatic dogs from Romania, although further studies are needed to investigate the vector competence of other ticks from Europe.