Serological and molecular survey of Anaplasma species infection in dogs with suspected tickborne disease in Portugal

Fifty-five dogs with suspected tickborne disease were tested by immunofluorescence assay and PCR for Anaplasma phagocytophilum infection. Thirty (54.5 per cent) of the dogs were seropositive and five of them fulfilled the serological criteria for an active infection, with either seroconversion or a fourfold increase in antibody titres. Fragments of DNA of the expected size were detected by PCR in two seropositive and three seronegative dogs. However, direct amplicon sequencing failed to identify active A phagocytophilum infections, but revealed the presence of Anaplasma platys DNA in the PCR-positive animals.