Determinación de genogrupos de Ehrlichia Canis en pacientes con EMC diagnosticados en el Centro Experimental de Diagnóstico e Investigación Molecular en Enfermedades Parasitarias, Tropicales e infecciosas (CEDIMOL).

Abstract

Canine Monocytic Ehrlichiosis (CME) is a tick-borne disease affecting all canids, the etiologic agent is Ehrlichia canis, belonging to the Anaplasmataceae family, this multisystemic disease affects canines regardless of breed, sex or age, and is distributed worldwide, it is transmitted by the vector Rhipicephalus sanguineus, which belongs to the Ixodidae family found in warm climates. In this study, 51 blood samples corresponding to patients positive for CME by immunochromatography, aged between 1 month and 10 years of age, were selected. The DNA samples were extracted by the phenol-chloroform method and using a commercial kit. A PCR was developed for molecular diagnosis with the 16S rRNA gene, positive patients were subjected to an end-point PCR using the primers TRP36-F2 and TRP36-R1, then a hemi-nested PCR was used using the primers TRP36-F2 and TRP36-DF. The amplified samples were sequenced using the Sanger technique to determine variations in the trp36 gene in order to characterize and genotype E. canis by determining the tandem repeats. The analysis determined the presence of the United States (US) genogroup in 2 samples and the Costa Rican (CR) genogroup in 2 other samples. This work is the first to determine the genogroups of this disease of great importance in the canine population of the region due to its high prevalence.