Rapid identification of Babesia canis and Babesia gibsoni (Asian genotype) in canine blood samples using a customized portable real-time PCR analyzer and TaqMan-based assay

Canine babesiosis is a serious infectious disease in subtropical and tropical regions. Typically, clinical detection of canine babesiosis is performed by blood smear observation or the traditional polymerase chain reaction (PCR). Herein, we developed a new TaqMan-based real-time PCR assay combined with a customized portable real-time PCR platform for a rapid and accurate detection of canine babesiosis. Two new primer/probe pairs (B18S and BITS1) were designed based on 18S ribosomal RNA and an internal transcribed spacer 1 (ITS1) sequence to differentiate Babesia canis and B. gibsoni (Asian genotype) DNAs from canine blood samples. Additionally, a corresponding customized compact real-time PCR platform with low 6-carboxyfluorescein fluorescence detection (<= 5 nM), including a fast and accurate thermal cycling ability with a user-friendly interface for thermal control and data analysis, was designed for the limited space use. Both assays (B18S and BITS1) demonstrated a sensitivity of 100 copies/reaction based on the 95 % confidence interval evaluation method. The self-developed customized portable real-time PCR analyzer presented high repeatability and reproducibility with the TaqMan-based assay. Moreover, 501 clinical specimens were collected for evaluating the performance of the proposed PCR. The positive and negative predictive values were 90 % (18 of 20) and 100 % (226 of 226), respectively, for samples suspected with B. canis infection and 98 % (55 of 56) and 100 % (199 of 199), respectively, for samples suspected with B. gibsoni infection.