Seroepidemiology of Selected Vector Borne Diseases in Urban and Rural Pet Dogs in Madrid, Spain

Vector-borne diseases (VBD) are an important cause of morbidity and mortality in dogs, and some of them are zoonotic. We evaluated 79 healthy and 117 sick dogs (n=196) in the Madrid region (Spain) for evidence of common vector borne diseases The seroprevalence for the study group was 19.4% (38/196 dogs); of these, 15.8% (31/196 dogs) were seropositive for only one agent; there were 5 dogs positive for Ec (2.5 %), 3 positive for Ana (1.6%), 0 positive for Bb, 2 positive for Di (1%), and 21 positive for Li (10.7%). Seven dogs were coinfected; 5 dogs were seropositive for Ec and Ana (2.5%), and 2 for Ec and Li (1%). Twenty-six of the 38 (68.4%) seropositive dogs were sick. The seroprevalence was significantly higher in dogs that lived in a rural environment (28%), compared to those that resided in an urban environment (12.8%) (p=0.004). Nineteen of 87 (21.8%) seropositive dogs from rural environment were sick, and 5/87 (5.5%) were healthy; whereas 7/109 (6.4%) seropositive urban dogs were sick and 7/109 (6.4%) were healthy. Both sick and seropositive dogs had clinically relevant clinicopathologic abnormalities. Although the seroprevalence of these selected VBDs is similar to those previously reported, we found a high percentage of seropositive urban dogs. Interestingly, the seroprevalence of LI was similar between rural and city dogs.