Relationship between dog erythrocyte antigen (DEA) and susceptibility of dogs to babesiosis

Canine Babesiosis causes a fatal disease marked by haemolytic anaemia. Of the identified dog blood groups, some have been found to affect the host's susceptibility/resistance to certain infections. However, limited information exists on the influence of canine blood types on tolerance of dogs to babesiosis. This study assessed the prevalence of different Dog Erythrocyte Antigen (DEA) 1 blood group in Abeokuta, Nigeria, and evaluated potential relationship between DEA 1 blood types and susceptibility to babesiosis. 200 blood samples (1 mL each) were collected from client-owned dogs. Alvedia® test kit was used to identify DEA 1.1, DEA 1.2 and DEA 1.0 genotypes. Deoxyribose nucleic acid (DNA) was extracted from each sample, and Babesia species detected using Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR). Data were analyzed for relationship between blood types and Babesia infection using Chi-square. DEA 1 positive dogs accounted for 63.5%, a significantly higher proportion than DEA 1 negative dogs (36.5%) in the study population. Boerboel, Rottweiler, Caucasian, and local breeds showed significantly higher frequency (73.3% to 86.4%) of DEA 1 positive blood types compared to DEA 1 negative types (13.6% to 26.7%). In contrast, German shepherd breed showed no significant difference in frequency of DEA positive (51.2%) and DEA negative (48.8%) dogs. Additionally, no significant sex-based differences were observed in DEA 1 blood type distribution. The prevalence of Babesia species in DEA 1 positive dogs (63.0%) was not significantly different (p > 0.05) from that in DEA 1 negative dogs (60.3%). These findings suggested that the DEA 1 blood group may not influence the tolerance or susceptibility of dogs to Babesia infection.