Abstract:
Although there is evidence of high seroprevalence of antibodies to Babesia spp. in dogs in
central Namibia, clinical babesiosis is rarely diagnosed. Rhipicephalus sanguineus sensu lato, the
vector of Babesia vogeli, is common in Namibia while Haemaphysalis elliptica, the vector of the
highly virulent but morphologically indistinguishable Babesia rossi, has rarely been recorded,
mainly in northern Namibia. On the basis of vector occurrence, clinical cases of canine
babesiosis in Windhoek, central Namibia, have been ascribed to B. vogeli. DNA extracted from
a blood smear made from a sick dog was subjected to the reverse line blot hybridisation assay.
The polymerase chain reaction amplicons hybridised with the B. vogeli–specific probe, but not
with the Babesia canis– and B. rossi–specific probes. Although attempts at cloning and
sequencing of the full-length 18S rRNA gene were unsuccessful, we can confirm that B. vogeli
occurs in central Namibia.
