Prevalence of Babesia spp. in dogs of Seogwipo-si, Jeju-do, South Korea

Dogs with canine babesiosis may present with wide variation in the severity of clinical signs, ranging from a hyperacute, shock-associated, hemolytic crisis to an inapparent, subclinical infection. Dogs typically present with the acute form of babesiosis, which is characterized by general findings such as pyrexia, weakness, mucous membrane pallor, depression, hemorrhagic anemia. This study was conducted to investigate the prevalence of babesia spp. infection in dogs of Seogwipo-si. A survey of canine babesia spp. infections among 173 dogs in Seogwipo-si was performed from July 2008 to August 2008. Blood samples were collected from dogs raised outdoors through cephalic or jugular vein and Babesia spp. was diagnosed by examination of blood smear stained with Giemsa stain. Of 173 dogs, 9 dogs (5.2%) were infected with the babesia spp. This result was a little lower than the prevalence of Babesia spp. in dogs of other areas.