The Epidemiology and Chemoprevention of Canine Vector-Borne Pathogens in the Asia-Pacific Region Using Novel Molecular Diagnostics

Abstract

Canine vector-borne pathogens (VBPs) are a diverse range of arthropod-transmitted organisms that encompass viruses, bacteria, protozoa and multicellular metazoan parasites. Together they can generate a spectrum of disease in dogs from relatively benign infections to ones that can be fatal, whilst some are also zoonotic and therefore represent a concurrent risk to humans. Although canine VBPs have been extensively studied in Europe and North America there is substantially less relevant information on these pathogens in the tropics, particularly across the Asia-Pacific. The potential for novel and emerging VBPs to surface from such regions is great, whilst international travel and the movement..