Peer-reviewed veterinary case report
Dog in Italy with first local infection causing severe anemia and low
By Antognoni, Maria Teresa et al.·Published in Frontiers in veterinary science·2025·Department of Veterinary Medicine, Italy·View original on PubMed →
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Original publication title: Case report: First autochthonousinfection in a dog from Italy.
- Species:
- dog
Plain-English summary
A 10-month-old female Cane Corso was brought to the vet with severe lethargy, weight loss, and pale gums. She had never traveled outside Italy and was regularly treated for parasites, but tests showed she had a serious infection causing hemolytic anemia and low platelet counts. Initial treatment with a medication called imidocarb dipropionate didn’t fully help, but the infection cleared up after switching to a combination of Malarone and azithromycin. This case is notable as it marks the first recorded instance of this infection in a dog in Italy.
People also search for: dog lethargy and weight loss · Cane Corso anemia treatment · dog infection treatment options
Abstract
A 10-month-old intact female Cane Corso dog was referred to the Veterinary Teaching Hospital of the University of Perugia (PG-VTH) for severe hemolytic anemia and thrombocytopenia. The dog had never traveled abroad and was regularly treated with antiparasitic products. On physical examination, the dog showed lethargy, delayed growth, weight loss, pale mucous membranes, and abdominal pain. The temperature was normal, and on examination, no ectoparasites were observed on the animal's body surface. The main laboratory findings were hemolytic anemia, thrombocytopenia, and elevated liver enzymes.infection was initially diagnosed by blood smear evaluation via May-Grünwald-Giemsa staining and then confirmed by real-time polymerase chain reaction analysis; further sequencing analysis attributed the infection to(). An initial treatment with imidocarb dipropionate was only partially effective, while resolution of the infection was reached afterward with a combination of Malaroneand azithromycin therapy. To the authors' knowledge, this report describes the first case ofinfection in a dog in Italy.
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Search related cases →Original publication on PubMed: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/40046425/