Detection of the DNA of Borrelia afzelii, Anaplasma phagocytophilum and Babesia canis in blood samples from dogs in Warsaw.

Each month, from March 2003 to February 2004, 34 blood samples from dogs were randomly selected from the blood samples delivered to two veterinary laboratories in Warsaw and tested for the DNA of Borrelia burgdorferi sensu lato, Anaplasma phagocytophilum, Babesia canis and Hepatozoon canis. Borrelia DNA was detected in seven of the 408 dogs, A phagocytophilum DNA was found in two, and B canis DNA was found in 48 (11.8 per cent). The DNA of H canis was not found in any of the blood samples. Sequencing of the seven Borrelia amplicons showed that only the genospecies Borrelia afzelii was present, the first time it has been detected in dogs in Poland.