Seroprevalence of equine piroplasms and host-related factors associated with infection in Greece

dc.contributor.author	Kouam, MK	en
dc.contributor.author	Kantzoura, V	en
dc.contributor.author	Gajadhar, AA	en
dc.contributor.author	Theis, JH	en
dc.contributor.author	Papadopoulos, E	en
dc.contributor.author	Theodoropoulos Georgios, G	en
dc.date.accessioned	2014-06-06T06:50:42Z
dc.date.available	2014-06-06T06:50:42Z
dc.date.issued	2010	en
dc.identifier.issn	03044017	en
dc.identifier.uri	http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.vetpar.2010.01.011	en
dc.identifier.uri	http://62.217.125.90/xmlui/handle/123456789/5124
dc.subject	Babesia caballi	en
dc.subject	CELISA	en
dc.subject	Equine piroplasms	en
dc.subject	Relative risk	en
dc.subject	Theileria equi	en
dc.subject	Tick-borne disease	en
dc.subject.other	age	en
dc.subject.other	article	en
dc.subject.other	Babesia equi	en
dc.subject.other	blood sampling	en
dc.subject.other	competitive inhibition	en
dc.subject.other	controlled study	en
dc.subject.other	enzyme linked immunosorbent assay	en
dc.subject.other	equine piroplasmosis	en
dc.subject.other	female	en
dc.subject.other	geographic distribution	en
dc.subject.other	geographical variation (species)	en
dc.subject.other	geography	en
dc.subject.other	Greece	en
dc.subject.other	host parasite interaction	en
dc.subject.other	infection risk	en
dc.subject.other	male	en
dc.subject.other	mixed infection	en
dc.subject.other	nonhuman	en
dc.subject.other	parasite transmission	en
dc.subject.other	recreation	en
dc.subject.other	Rhipicephalus	en
dc.subject.other	risk factor	en
dc.subject.other	serology	en
dc.subject.other	seroprevalence	en
dc.subject.other	species difference	en
dc.subject.other	Theileria	en
dc.subject.other	Animals	en
dc.subject.other	Babesia	en
dc.subject.other	Babesiosis	en
dc.subject.other	Female	en
dc.subject.other	Greece	en
dc.subject.other	Horse Diseases	en
dc.subject.other	Horses	en
dc.subject.other	Male	en
dc.subject.other	Risk Factors	en
dc.subject.other	Seroepidemiologic Studies	en
dc.subject.other	Animalia	en
dc.subject.other	Babesia caballi	en
dc.subject.other	Canis familiaris	en
dc.subject.other	Equidae	en
dc.subject.other	Ixodida	en
dc.subject.other	Rhipicephalus bursa	en
dc.subject.other	Rhipicephalus sanguineus	en
dc.subject.other	Theileria equi	en
dc.title	Seroprevalence of equine piroplasms and host-related factors associated with infection in Greece	en
heal.type	journalArticle	en
heal.identifier.primary	10.1016/j.vetpar.2010.01.011	en
heal.publicationDate	2010	en
heal.abstract	Serum samples were collected from a total of 544 equids that included 524 horses, 13 mules, and 7 ponies from various regions of mainland Greece and were examined by competitive-inhibition ELISA (cELISA) to evaluate the level of exposure of Greek equids to Theileria (Babesia) equi and/or Babesia caballi, the causative agents of piroplasmosis. Association between seropositivity and host-related factors of species, gender, age, origin, activity and location were investigated. The overall seroprevalence was 11.6% (9.1-14.6%) with 95% confidence limit. The seroprevalence for T. equi and B. caballi was found to be 11% (8.6-14%) and 2.2% (1.2-3.9%), respectively. The animal-related factors significantly linked with seropositivity were the species, activities of farming, racing, recreation, and geographic location in Attica, Macedonia, Peloponnese and Thessaly region (p<0.05). The relative risks for the presence of T. equi, B. caballi and mixed infection in mules compared to horses was 8.39, 33.58 and 40.31, respectively. The infection level for T. equi, B. caballi and mixed infection were significantly higher in farm equids than in racing equids (p<0.05). Also, the rate of infection of T. equi was higher in farm equids than recreational equids (p<0.05). The relative risk of T. equi infection between farming equids and equids used only for recreation activity was 3.25-1, while the relative risk of B. caballi infection was 0.14-1 for racing animals relative to recreation animals. The region with the highest level of infection to both parasites was Thessaly (38.8% T. equi and 6.1% B. caballi), followed by Peloponnese (10.4% T. equi and 3.9% B. caballi), Attica region (8.3% T. equi and 0.6% B. caballi) and finally Macedonia the region with the lowest prevalence (6.6% T. equi and 4.4% B. caballi). A higher seroprevalence rate was found among local animals compared to imported equids, indicating that equine piroplasm infection is enzootic in Greece. T. equi seroprevalence was significantly different and higher among increasing age groups of equids, suggesting persistent infections or lower transmission levels whereby animals may need to be exposed longer before acquiring the infection. Competent tick vectors Rhipicephalus bursa and Rhipicephalus sanguineus for the transmission of equine piroplasmosis were recovered from horses and dogs, respectively. © 2010 Elsevier B.V.	en
heal.journalName	Veterinary Parasitology	en
dc.identifier.issue	3-4	en
dc.identifier.volume	169	en
dc.identifier.doi	10.1016/j.vetpar.2010.01.011	en
dc.identifier.spage	273	en
dc.identifier.epage	278	en