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Low seroprevalence of equine piroplasmosis in horses exported from the Netherlands between 2015 and 2021

Equine piroplasmosis (EP) is a tick-borne disease affecting horses, donkeys, mules and zebras, caused by the intracellular apicomplexan protozoa Babesia caballi and Theileria equi. The geographical distribution of EP is closely related to the distribution of its vector tick species belonging to the...

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Autores principales: Graham, Heather, van Kalsbeek, Paul, van der Goot, Jeanet, Koene, Miriam G. J.
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: Frontiers Media S.A. 2022
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9588945/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/36299627
http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fvets.2022.954046
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author Graham, Heather
van Kalsbeek, Paul
van der Goot, Jeanet
Koene, Miriam G. J.
author_facet Graham, Heather
van Kalsbeek, Paul
van der Goot, Jeanet
Koene, Miriam G. J.
author_sort Graham, Heather
collection PubMed
description Equine piroplasmosis (EP) is a tick-borne disease affecting horses, donkeys, mules and zebras, caused by the intracellular apicomplexan protozoa Babesia caballi and Theileria equi. The geographical distribution of EP is closely related to the distribution of its vector tick species belonging to the genera of Dermacentor, Rhipicephalus and Hyalomma. Since the discovery of Dermacentor reticulatus ticks in 2007 and the first reported autochthonous cases in the South of the Netherlands in 2012, no data on the (sero)prevalence of EP in horses in the Netherlands have been reported and it remains unclear whether B. caballi and T. equi have been able to establish themselves in the Netherlands. This study aims to give an update on the current status of EP in horses in the Netherlands using data from serological tests performed in the context of export and screening of 12,881 horses from 2015 through 2020. Horses were categorized as “Dutch,” “Foreign,” or “Unknown” based on microchip number. The overall seroprevalence of EP in Dutch horses was found to be 0.5% (95% exact CI [0.4–0.7]), compared to 1.9% (95% exact CI [1.3–2.6]) in horses in the category “Foreign” and 1.7% (95% exact CI [1.2–2.3]) in horses in the category “Unknown.” In addition, the seroprevalence per country in the category “Foreign” ranged from 0% (0.95% exact CI [0–2.8]) for Ireland to 6.0% (0.95% exact CI [3.5–9.3]) for Spain. In light of the reports on the seroprevalence during the outbreak of autochthonous EP reported in 2012 and on seroprevalences of EP in other countries in Northwestern Europe, the seroprevalence of EP in horses exported from the Netherlands is very low. However, the higher seroprevalence of EP in horses from abroad warrants the need for the monitoring of EP, as tick vectors are present in the Netherlands and the import of horses from endemic areas increases the chances of EP becoming more prevalent in the Netherlands.
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spelling pubmed-95889452022-10-25 Low seroprevalence of equine piroplasmosis in horses exported from the Netherlands between 2015 and 2021 Graham, Heather van Kalsbeek, Paul van der Goot, Jeanet Koene, Miriam G. J. Front Vet Sci Veterinary Science Equine piroplasmosis (EP) is a tick-borne disease affecting horses, donkeys, mules and zebras, caused by the intracellular apicomplexan protozoa Babesia caballi and Theileria equi. The geographical distribution of EP is closely related to the distribution of its vector tick species belonging to the genera of Dermacentor, Rhipicephalus and Hyalomma. Since the discovery of Dermacentor reticulatus ticks in 2007 and the first reported autochthonous cases in the South of the Netherlands in 2012, no data on the (sero)prevalence of EP in horses in the Netherlands have been reported and it remains unclear whether B. caballi and T. equi have been able to establish themselves in the Netherlands. This study aims to give an update on the current status of EP in horses in the Netherlands using data from serological tests performed in the context of export and screening of 12,881 horses from 2015 through 2020. Horses were categorized as “Dutch,” “Foreign,” or “Unknown” based on microchip number. The overall seroprevalence of EP in Dutch horses was found to be 0.5% (95% exact CI [0.4–0.7]), compared to 1.9% (95% exact CI [1.3–2.6]) in horses in the category “Foreign” and 1.7% (95% exact CI [1.2–2.3]) in horses in the category “Unknown.” In addition, the seroprevalence per country in the category “Foreign” ranged from 0% (0.95% exact CI [0–2.8]) for Ireland to 6.0% (0.95% exact CI [3.5–9.3]) for Spain. In light of the reports on the seroprevalence during the outbreak of autochthonous EP reported in 2012 and on seroprevalences of EP in other countries in Northwestern Europe, the seroprevalence of EP in horses exported from the Netherlands is very low. However, the higher seroprevalence of EP in horses from abroad warrants the need for the monitoring of EP, as tick vectors are present in the Netherlands and the import of horses from endemic areas increases the chances of EP becoming more prevalent in the Netherlands. Frontiers Media S.A. 2022-10-10 /pmc/articles/PMC9588945/ /pubmed/36299627 http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fvets.2022.954046 Text en Copyright © 2022 Graham, van Kalsbeek, van der Goot and Koene. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) and the copyright owner(s) are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
spellingShingle Veterinary Science
Graham, Heather
van Kalsbeek, Paul
van der Goot, Jeanet
Koene, Miriam G. J.
Low seroprevalence of equine piroplasmosis in horses exported from the Netherlands between 2015 and 2021
title Low seroprevalence of equine piroplasmosis in horses exported from the Netherlands between 2015 and 2021
title_full Low seroprevalence of equine piroplasmosis in horses exported from the Netherlands between 2015 and 2021
title_fullStr Low seroprevalence of equine piroplasmosis in horses exported from the Netherlands between 2015 and 2021
title_full_unstemmed Low seroprevalence of equine piroplasmosis in horses exported from the Netherlands between 2015 and 2021
title_short Low seroprevalence of equine piroplasmosis in horses exported from the Netherlands between 2015 and 2021
title_sort low seroprevalence of equine piroplasmosis in horses exported from the netherlands between 2015 and 2021
topic Veterinary Science
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9588945/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/36299627
http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fvets.2022.954046
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