Bacterial, apicomplexan and kinetoplastid vector-borne diseases from tropical canines in Bangkok, Thailand

Bacterial, apicomplexan and kinetoplastid vector-borne diseases (VBD) are responsible for some of the most prevalent and debilitating canine illnesses across the globe, whilst also posing a significant zoonotic risk to man. Many of these pathogens coinfect their host at any one time, forming a haemoparasite microbiome that may inflict greater damage on their host. This project uses a next-generation sequencing based methodology to screen for the extensive range of apicomplexan, kinetoplastid and bacterial blood-borne pathogens that may be infecting semi-domesticated canines in high infection pressure contexts, such as the tropics. We also compare our high-throughput approach to conventional diagnostic techniques, highlighting the benefits of such an approach due to its ability to identify VBD coinfection as well as detection of novel pathogenic sequences. These advantages are particularly pertinent for investigation of VBD in tropical regions, where information regarding VBD prevalence is poor and coinfection producing complex symptomatology is common.