First detection and molecular identification of Babesia gibsoni and Hepatozoon canis in an Asiatic wild dog (Cuon alpinus) from Thailand

Babesia spp. and Hepatozoon spp. are apicomplexan parasites that infect a wide range of domestic and wild animals. The life cycle of these parasites requires a tick vector as a definitive host and various vertebrates as reservoir hosts. The objective of this study was to detect and characterize Babesia spp. and Hepatozoon spp. in an Asiatic wild dog (Cuon alpinus) from a natural habitat in northeastern Thailand. Heart and spleen samples of an adult male wild dog were screened for Babesia spp. and Hepatozoon spp. by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) of the partial fragment of 18S ribosomal RNA gene sequence. Both Babesia sp. and Hepatozoon sp. were detected in the spleen of the wild dog. Nucleotide sequence and phylogenetic analyses showed that the detected parasites were Babesia gibsoni and Hepatozoon canis. This is the first report of B. gibsoni and H. canis in the Asiatic wild dog from Thailand using PCR. Our results indicate that wild dogs can serve as a potential reservoir of the protozoan parasites and that they may play an important role in the transmission of these parasites to other wild or domestic canids.