Peer-reviewed veterinary case report
Dog with itchy swelling over eye diagnosed with Hepatozoon canis
By Little, Liz & Baneth, Gad·Published in Journal of veterinary diagnostic investigation : official publication of the American Association of Veterinary Laboratory Diagnosticians, Inc·2011·IDEXX Laboratories, United States·View original on PubMed →
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Original publication title: Cutaneous Hepatozoon canis infection in a dog from New Jersey.
- Species:
- dog
Plain-English summary
A 7-month-old mixed-breed female dog from New Jersey had a raised, itchy lump about the size of a quarter over her right eye. Tests showed that the lump was caused by a parasite called Hepatozoon canis, which is not commonly seen in this area. The dog was treated for the infection, and while the abstract does not specify the exact treatment, cases like this often involve medications to eliminate the parasite. With proper care, dogs can recover from this type of infection.
People also search for: dog lump near eye · Hepatozoon canis treatment · itchy skin dog · dog parasite infection symptoms
Abstract
A 7-month-old mixed-breed intact female dog was presented to a private veterinarian with a 2 cm in diameter raised, pruritic, alopecic, subcutaneous, fluctuant swelling over the right eye. Cytology of the mass revealed many degenerate neutrophils, moderate numbers of eosinophils, moderate numbers of macrophages, rare mast cells, and few erythrocytes. Rare neutrophils contained a protozoal agent compatible with a Hepatozoon gamont. Real-time polymerase chain reaction of peripheral blood was positive for Hepatozoon canis. The complete sequence identity of the amplified 18S ribosomal RNA fragment from the dog's blood confirmed H. canis and proved it was relatively distant from the corresponding fragment sequence of Hepatozoon americanum. This case is important in documenting an unusual presentation of infection with H. canis outside of the southern United States.
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Search related cases →Original publication on PubMed: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/21908296/