Molecular investigation of N. caninum infection in dogs from Mosul city, Iraq

This study was carried out between October 2023 and July 2024 on 40 dogs of both sexes, ages, and lifestyles. All dogs suffer from nervous signs, paralysis, and paresis, which were examined to detect the infection rate of N. caninum in Mosul city, Iraq, using the conventional polymerase chain reaction (c-PCR) technique. A 5ml sample of dog blood was collected from the cephalic vein, and buffy coats were separated from the whole blood and then kept at -20 °C. The DNA of the nc5 gene for N. caninum was amplified using specific primers. The infection rate of N. caninum was 37.5% (15/40) in Mosul city. Many risk factors were linked with a higher infection rate of N. caninum, including > 1 year - ≥ 2 years, gender, stray, and large or small breeds of dogs. The South Korean company Macrogen Inc. received favorable PCR products so they could be sequenced. Additionally, 15 local sequences (4 sequences total) with the Nc5 gene were analyzed phylogenetically and deposited with accession numbers in the NCBI GenBank, PQ084657.1, PQ084658.1, PQ084659.1, and PQ0846660.1. These sequences are highly related to other sequences registered in GenBank, including those from Iraq and Iran, with 98.04-100% identity. This study concludes that N. caninum is widespread in Mosul, Iraq. It is the first study that highlights the phylogenetic analysis of N. caninum in Mosul.