Peer-reviewed veterinary case report
Leishmania parasites found in blood of four very sick dogs
By Giudice, Elisabetta & Passantino, Annamaria·Published in Acta veterinaria Hungarica·2011·University of Messina Department of Veterinary Public Health, Italy·View original on PubMed →
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Original publication title: Detection of Leishmania amastigotes in peripheral blood from four dogs--Short communication.
- Species:
- dog
Plain-English summary
Four dogs were found to have a rare form of leishmaniasis, a disease caused by the Leishmania parasite, after showing symptoms like extreme tiredness, poor appetite, weight loss, and changes in their blood counts. A blood test revealed the presence of the parasite in their blood cells. Most of these dogs were quite sick, and in three cases, they also had another infection called ehrlichiosis. While the microscopic examination of blood smears can sometimes detect the parasite, it is not a reliable method for diagnosing leishmaniasis in dogs.
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Abstract
The authors carried out microscopic examination of blood smears of 1438 dogs infected with Leishmania infantum. Unusual findings of leishmaniosis associated with circulating parasitised cells are described in four dogs. Most of the dogs presented severe illness, with lethargy, dysorexia, emaciation and alterations of the haematological pattern (anaemia, thrombocytopenia, neutrophilia and monocytosis). In three cases, leishmaniosis was associated with ehrlichiosis. On examination of peripheral blood smears, Leishmania sp. amastigotes were observed both in various circulating leukocytes (neutrophil, monocyte, macrophage) and free. In conclusion, parasites can rarely be detected in blood smears (in 0.28% of the animals examined); thus, the time-consuming microscopic search for amastigotes can make only a weak contribution to the conventional diagnosis of canine leishmaniosis.
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Search related cases →Original publication on PubMed: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/21665574/