Microscopic diagnosis of piroplasmosis in canines with ticks presence in the city of Córdoba, Argentina

Abstract

Canine piroplasmosis is a globally distributed tick-borne hemoparasitosis. Babesia vogeli is the most widely
distributed piroplasma due to the cosmopolitan nature of its main tick vector, Rhipicephalus sanguineus.
The use of microscopy from capillary blood smears is a simple method of diagnosis of piroplasmas and
associated hemopathogens, characterized by being accessible and easy to perform in daily clinical practice.
The objectives of this work are: a) to determine the presence of piroplasmas in blood smears from dogs
with ticks from the city of Córdoba; b) to identify the ticks present in positive cases and c) to establish the
presence of coinfections with other tick-borne hemopathogens.