Development Of A PCR Detection Method For Eperythrozoon Canis And Epidemic Investigation In Shanghai Area

Eperythrozoonosis is caused by the attachment of Eperythrozoon (EH) on the surface of erythrocyte with wild host range including human. Such infection can induce fever, anemia and icterus and always coinfected with other pathogens. In this study, the depression of erythrocyte or even disruption caused by Eperythrozoon attachment was observed by using traditional and transmission electron microscope. By the homology analysis of 16S rRNA gene sequence of different kind of eperythrozoon, a conserved fragment of 16S rRNA gene was amplified successfully. Meanwhile, 406 samples collected from pet's clinics, dog farms and private dog pets were detected by using the established PCR method. The result show the dog farms with the highest infection rate (78.9%) followed by pet's clinics (35.0%) and private dogs (22.9%), which indicated that this disease was closely associated with the feeding environments should be given a good recognition and do contribution for the prevention of the prevalence of eperythrozoonosis and cross transmission to humans.