Epidemiology of Ehrlichia canis in healthy dogs from the Southeastern region of the state of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

Publication date: Available online 14 September 2018Source: Preventive Veterinary MedicineAuthor(s): Patrícia Gonzaga Paulino, Marcus Sandes Pires, Claudia Bezerra da Silva, Maristela Peckle, Renata Lins da Costa, Gabriela Vivas Vitari, Joice Aparecida Rezende Vilela, Ana Paula Martinez de Abreu, Carlos Luiz Massard, Huarrisson Azevedo SantosAbstractThis cross-sectional, observational, and descriptive study aims to investigate the epidemiology of Ehrlichia canis in healthy owned dogs from the Southeastern region of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Blood samples were collected from 390 households dogs. During the visits, an epidemiological questionnaire was filled out concerning the dogs’ characteristics as well as the environments in which they lived. The variables were analyzed using a bivariate test, while the correlation analysis between the variables was performed via a phi test. The variables that had p-values lower than 0.2 in the bivariate analysis and had a low or moderate correlation were selected for the multivariate analysis. The model that had the lowest Akaike information criterion (AIC) value was retained. Among the 390 blood samples tested, 24.8% were considered positive for E. canis. The parsimonious logistic regression model presented an AIC value of 408.75 and showed three variables that favored the presence of E. canis DNA in the tested dogs: the animal’s access to urban streets and neighborhoods (odds ratio [OR] = 1.91; p-value = 0.02; confidence inter...
Source: Preventive Veterinary Medicine - Category: Veterinary Research Source Type: research