Prevalence of dog erythrocyte antigen (DEA) 1 amongst the dog blood donors at Tamil Nadu veterinary and animal sciences university animal blood bank (TABB), India

The study of dog blood groups has increased in the last years. Inherited antigens on the RBC surface define blood groups. There are 7 blood groups in the canine DEA system. Amongst these blood groups, DEA 1 blood group is highly immunogenic and consequently has greater clinical importance. A retrospective study was conducted in 125 purebred and mongrel dog blood donors at the TANUVAS Animal Blood Bank, Madras Veterinary College, Tamil Nadu Veterinary and Animal Sciences University, Chennai, India during the period from January 2010 to January 2011. Donor dogs were screened and typed for the presence of DEA 1 using the monoclonal antibody kit. The prevalence of DEA 1 was 61.6%. The prevalence of DEA 1 dogs in India agrees with most of the data reported in the literature.