{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,4,10]],"date-time":"2026-04-10T10:59:53Z","timestamp":1775818793356,"version":"3.50.1"},"reference-count":25,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"8","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2020,8,18]],"date-time":"2020-08-18T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1597708800000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"name":"Robert Koch-Institut, Berlin, Germany","award":["NRZ Borrelia"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["NRZ Borrelia"]}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Microorganisms"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Canine cases of relapsing fever (RF) borreliosis have been described in Israel and the USA, where two RF species, Borrelia turicatae and Borrelia hermsii, can cause similar clinical signs to the Borrelia persica in dogs and cats reported from Israel, including fever, lethargy, anorexia, thrombocytopenia, and spirochetemia. In this report, we describe the first clinical cases of two dogs and a cat from Spain (Cordoba, Valencia, and Seville) caused by the RF species Borrelia hispanica. Spirochetes were present in the blood smears of all three animals, and clinical signs included lethargy, pale mucosa, anorexia, cachexia, or mild abdominal respiration. Laboratory findings, like thrombocytopenia in both dogs, may have been caused by co-infecting pathogens (i.e., Babesia vogeli, confirmed in one dog). Anemia was noticed in one of the dogs and in the cat. Borrelia hispanica was confirmed as an infecting agent by molecular analysis of the 16S rRNA locus. Molecular analysis of housekeeping genes and phylogenetic analyses, as well as successful in vitro culture of the feline isolate confirmed the causative agent as B. hispanica.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/microorganisms8081251","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2020,8,18]],"date-time":"2020-08-18T11:15:27Z","timestamp":1597749327000},"page":"1251","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":13,"title":["First Cases of Natural Infections with Borrelia hispanica in Two Dogs and a Cat from Europe"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"8","author":[{"given":"Gabriele","family":"Margos","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"German National Reference Centre for Borrelia, Bavarian Health and Food Safety Authority, 85764 Oberschlei\u00dfheim, Germany"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Nikola","family":"Pantchev","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"IDEXX Laboratories, 70806 Kornwestheim, Germany"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Majda","family":"Globokar","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"IDEXX Laboratories, 70806 Kornwestheim, Germany"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Javier","family":"Lopez","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"IDEXX Laboratories, 08038 Barcelona, Spain"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Jaume","family":"Rodon","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"IDEXX Laboratories, 08038 Barcelona, Spain"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Leticia","family":"Hernandez","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"IDEXX Laboratories, 08038 Barcelona, Spain"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-9934-2590","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Heike","family":"Herold","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Bavarian Health and Food Safety Authority, 85764 Oberschlei\u00dfheim, Germany"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Noelia","family":"Salas","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"IDEXX Laboratories, 08038 Barcelona, Spain"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Anna","family":"Civit","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"IDEXX Laboratories, 08038 Barcelona, Spain"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Volker","family":"Fingerle","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"German National Reference Centre for Borrelia, Bavarian Health and Food Safety Authority, 85764 Oberschlei\u00dfheim, Germany"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2020,8,18]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"72","DOI":"10.1016\/j.meegid.2018.09.013","article-title":"Genome-wide analysis of Borrelia turcica and \u2018Candidatus Borrelia tachyglossi\u2019 shows relapsing fever-like genomes with unique genomic links to Lyme disease Borrelia","volume":"66","author":"Gofton","year":"2018","journal-title":"Infect. 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