Multitarget Test in a Serosurvey of Dogs | CDC EID

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Volume 17, Number 5–May 2011
Dispatch
Multitarget Test for Emerging Lyme Disease and Anaplasmosis in a Serosurvey of Dogs, Maine, USA
Peter W. Rand, Eleanor H. Lacombe, Susan P. Elias, Bruce K. Cahill, Charles B. Lubelczyk, and Robert P. Smith, Jr.

Author affiliation: Maine Medical Center Research Institute, South Portland, Maine, USA


Suggested citation for this article

Abstract
To determine if the range of deer ticks in Maine had expanded, we conducted a multitarget serosurvey of domestic dogs (Canis lupus familiaris) in 2007. An extension of exposure to Borrelia burgdorferi to the northern border and local transmission of Anaplasma phagocytophilum throughout southern areas was found.

Over the past 2 decades, the range of Ixodes scapularis, the deer tick, vector of Lyme disease, anaplasmosis, babesiosis, and deer tick virus infections, has expanded in northern New England. Because Lyme disease and anaplasmosis affect humans and dogs (Canis lupus familiaris), serosurveys of canids have proved useful for monitoring emergence of these infections. Sample selection may be confounded when dogs that are remotely exposed, vaccinated, or treated with topical acaricides are included. In recent years, however, the advent of a multitarget, in-clinic test kit (SNAP 4Dx; IDEXX Laboratories, Westbrook, ME, USA) has increased the scope and efficiency of these serosurveys. The SNAP 4Dx tests for heartworm antigen and antibodies to Borrelia burgdorferi, Anaplasma phagocytophilum, and Ehrlichia canis on 3 drops of blood. Its sensitivity and specificity for antibodies against B. burgdorferi and A. phagocytophilum exceed 98% (1,2).

In Maine, deer ticks were first reported at a coastal site in 1988 and have since spread inland (3). Lyme disease has become a major public health problem; reported human cases reached 169 per 100,000 population in 1 mid-coastal county in 2008. Human cases of anaplasmosis and babesiosis are also being reported (4). In 1990, we conducted a statewide serosurvey to map B. burgdorferi–positive dogs and to correlate their distribution with reported human cases. Four percent of 828 samples were seropositive for B. burgdorferi, 89% of which were from dogs residing within 20 miles of the coast. No positivity was found among 102 dogs in the northern half of the state (5). Given the widespread acceptance of SNAP 4Dx tests by Maine veterinarians, we resurveyed dogs statewide in 2007 for exposure to B. burgdorferi and A. phagocytophilum. Data from questionnaires to veterinarians and dog owners enabled assessment of the influence of the use of Lyme vaccines and topical acaricides on canine serologic test results.

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Multitarget Test in a Serosurvey of Dogs | CDC EID


Suggested Citation for this Article
Rand PW, Lacome EH, Elias SP, Cahill BK, Lubelczyk CB, Smith RP. Multitarget test for emerging Lyme disease and anaplasmosis in a serosurvey of dogs, Maine, USA. Emerg Infect Dis [serial on the Internet]. 2011 May [date cited]. http://www.cdc.gov/EID/content/17/5/899.htm


DOI: 10.3201/eid1705.100408

Comments to the Authors
Please use the form below to submit correspondence to the authors or contact them at the following address:

Peter W. Rand, Vector-borne Disease Laboratory, Maine Medical Center Research Institute, 75 John Roberts Rd, Suite 9B, South Portland, ME 04106, USA; email: randp@mmc.org