This page quotes a published document. Everything below in quotation marks is copied word for word from https://capcvet.org/guidelines/babesia/, published by CAPC and retrieved on 2026-09-16. The quotations are excerpts; the document itself is linked and is the authority. Nothing has been reworded.
This page quotes the Companion Animal Parasite Council guideline for Babesia spp., section by section: the opening sentences of 8 sections, copied without change and linked to the guideline, which was retrieved on 2026-09-16. The guideline itself is the authority and carries the full text.
The guideline
Companion Animal Parasite Council, Babesia spp., at https://capcvet.org/guidelines/babesia/. Retrieved 2026-09-16. Each heading below is the guideline’s own, and the quotation under it is how that section begins. The full section, and the species tabs where the guideline gives them, are on the linked page.
Synopsis
CAPC Recommends Reduce risk of infection through year-round host-targeted tick control, avoiding areas with ticks, and limiting contact between dogs, especially when bite wounds may result. Diagnose babesiosis based on clinical signs, identification of intraerythrocytic organisms in stained blood smears, serology, or PCR.
Species
Canine Babesia canis vogeli Babesia sp. (Coco; also known as large Babesia sp.) Babesia vulpes (also known as B. microti -like, Babesia cf. microti , B. annae , and Theileria annae ) Babesia gibsoni Babesia conradae Babesia infections in domestic dogs include larger piroplasms collectively described as B. canis and smaller piroplasma that are often described as B. gibsoni -like.
Disease
Dogs with babesiosis often present with moderate to severe hemolytic anemia and clinical illness characterized by fever, anorexia, depression, pallor, splenomegaly, and a bounding pulse. However, disease is considered uncommon in healthy, spleen-intact adult dogs in the United States.
Prevalence
Canine infection with Babesia spp. is common throughout the world. Infection is more common in areas where tick infestation pressure is high and when routine acaricide use is not practiced.
Diagnosis
Definitive diagnosis of Babesia spp. infection relies on identification of piroplasms in erythrocytes on stained blood smears. Although organisms may be numerous in blood smears from animals with acute babesiosis, parasitemias are often low, and organisms may rarely be found in samples collected from dogs with chronic babesiosis or asymptomatic carriers.
Treatment
Dogs infected with B. canis vogeli and other large Babesia spp. usually respond to treatment with imidocarb diproprionate at a dose of 6.6 mg/kg IM or SC administered twice at 14-day intervals.. Imidocarb diproprionate should not be administered intravenously to dogs.
Control and Prevention
Stringent adherence to routine application of effective acaricides is essential for preventing infection with Babesia spp. Vaccines are not available to prevent Babesia spp. infection of pets in North America.
Public Health Considerations
Babesia spp. infecting canine hosts are not known to infect people. People can become infected with Babesia microti (and other related Babesia spp. that normally infect rodents).
Continue reading public health considerations on capcvet.org
Sources
- capc-babesiaCAPC · retrieved 2026-09-16
“CAPC Recommends Reduce risk of infection through year-round host-targeted tick control, avoiding areas with ticks, and limiting contact between dogs, especially when bite wounds may” (Synopsis)
Related
From Glarda
The note drafted from the consult, with the reference you just read sitting beside it in the shape your record already expects.