Peer-reviewed veterinary case report
Doxycycline treatment results for dogs with Anaplasma infection
By Yancey, C B et al.·Published in The Journal of small animal practice·2018·Department of Clinical Sciences and the Intracellular Pathogens Research Laboratory, United States·View original on PubMed →
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Original publication title: Doxycycline treatment efficacy in dogs with naturally occurring Anaplasma phagocytophilum infection.
- Species:
- dog
Plain-English summary
A group of dogs with Anaplasma phagocytophilum infection, a tick-borne illness, were treated with doxycycline after showing symptoms like low platelet counts and other blood abnormalities. After 28 days of treatment, all dogs tested negative for the infection, and most showed improvement in their symptoms. However, a few dogs still had mild blood issues even after treatment. Overall, doxycycline was effective in clearing the infection and resolving clinical signs in the infected dogs.
People also search for: dog Anaplasma infection treatment · doxycycline for dogs · symptoms of tick-borne illness in dogs
Abstract
OBJECTIVES: To evaluate doxycycline treatment efficacy and post-treatment pathogen persistence in dogs naturally infected with Anaplasma phagocytophilum in endemic regions of the USA. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Symptomatic dogs in four US states (MN, WI, CT and CA) were evaluated before treatment with doxycycline and approximately 30 and 60 days post-treatment. Clinicopathological parameters, co-exposures and A. phagocytophilum DNA in whole blood and lymph node samples were compared between A. phagocytophilum infected and uninfected dogs. RESULTS: In total, 42 dogs fulfilled the inclusion criteria, with 16 dogs (38%) blood PCR-positive and 26 dogs (62%) blood PCR-negative for A. phagocytophilum. At initial evaluation, the proportion of clinicopathological abnormalities was similar between A. phagocytophilum infected and uninfected dogs, although thrombocytopenia and lymphopenia were statistically more prevalent among A. phagocytophilum infected dogs. Treatment with doxycycline resulted in resolution of all clinical abnormalities in infected dogs; four dogs had persistent haematological abnormalities, including mild leukopenia, eosinopenia and lymphopenia. All 16 infected dogs became blood PCR-negative approximately 30 and 60 days after treatment onset. Additionally, 13/13 (100%) lymph node specimens tested post-treatment were PCR-negative. Select clinicopathological abnormalities persisted in uninfected dogs after treatment. CLINICAL SIGNIFICANCE: The results of this study support the efficacy of doxycycline therapy for clinical treatment of dogs naturally infected with A. phagocytophilum in the USA. This study did not find clinical, haematological or microbiological indicators that supported the persistence of A. phagocytophilum infection in naturally infected dogs following treatment with doxycycline for 28 days.
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Search related cases →Original publication on PubMed: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/29280490/