Prevalence of haemorickettsial and haemoprotozoan parasites of canine in and around Meerut district of Western Uttar Pradesh, India

India's diverse climatic conditions favor the growth and development of vectors and parasites. Common hemoprotozoan parasitic diseases in dogs, which are associated with high morbidity and mortality in India, include Babesiosis, Hepatozoonosis, Trypanosomosis, Ehrlichiosis, and Anaplasmosis. These infectious agents are primarily transmitted and disseminated host to host by arthropod vectors, presenting a significant health challenges in dogs. Infected dogs shows high to moderate fever, lethargy, jaundice, splenomegaly, progressive weakness, hemolysis, and thrombocytopenia. Thin blood smear from each of the anticoagulated blood sample was stained with Giemsa’s stain. The diagnostic stages of parasites identified under light compound microscope at 100X oil emersion. A total of 502 blood samples were tested for haemoprotozoan infections and were found overall prevalence rate 23.5% (118/502). Among the pathogens detected, E. canis (39/502), 7.37% for A. platys (37/502), 7.76% of samples tested positive for 3.38% for B. canis (17/502), 2.58% for B. gibsoni (13/502), 2.19% for H. canis (11/502), and 0.199% for Trypanosome spp. (1/502) respectively, and In terms of age, dogs over 2 years of age found statistically non-significant showed a higher prevalence (24.56%) as compared to dogs under 1 year (22.69%) and those between 1 and 2 years (22.48%). Male dogs found statistically non-significant had a higher prevalence (24.75%) than female dogs (21.46%). Regarding seasonal trends, found statistically non-significant, the monsoon season had the highest prevalence rate with 27.88%, followed by the pre-monsoon season (22.46%) and the post-monsoon season (15.04%). This research determined the prevalence of haemorickettsial and haemoprotozoan parasites of canines using a conventional parasitological technique in and around Meerut district of Western Uttar Pradesh, India