Peer-reviewed veterinary case report
How long can dogs shed severe fever with thrombocytopenia syndrome
By Saga, Yumiko et al.·Published in Viruses·2023·Department of Virology, Japan·View original on PubMed →
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Original publication title: Long-Term Detection and Isolation of Severe Fever with Thrombocytopenia Syndrome (SFTS) Virus in Dog Urine.
- Species:
- dog
Plain-English summary
Two dogs in Japan were found to have a tick-borne virus called Severe Fever with Thrombocytopenia Syndrome (SFTS). One dog was very sick while the other had mild symptoms, but both eventually recovered. Interestingly, the virus was present in their urine at much higher levels than in their blood, and it remained detectable in the urine for over two months, even after the dogs showed no symptoms. This highlights the importance of avoiding contact with a dog's urine, as the virus can still be present even after they seem healthy again.
People also search for: dog tick-borne illness symptoms · SFTS virus in dogs · dog urine infection risk · dog recovery from severe fever
Abstract
Severe fever with thrombocytopenia syndrome (SFTS) is a tick-borne infection caused by the SFTS virus (SFTSV), with a high fatality rate of approximately 30% in humans. In recent years, cases of contact infection with SFTSV via bodily fluids of infected dogs and cats have been reported. In this study, clinical and virological analyses were performed in two dogs in which SFTSV infection was confirmed for the first time in the Toyama prefecture. Both dogs recovered; however, one was severely ill and the other mildly ill. The amount of the SFTSV gene was reduced to almost similar levels in both dogs. In the dogs' sera, the SFTSV gene was detected at a low level but fell below the detection limit approximately 2 weeks after onset. Notably, the SFTSV gene was detected at levels several thousand times higher in urine than in other specimens from both dogs. Furthermore, the gene was detected in the urine for a long period of >2 months. The clinical signs disappeared on days 1 or 6 after onset, but infectious SFTSV was detected in the urine up to 3 weeks later. Therefore, it is necessary to be careful about contact with bodily fluids, especially urine, even after symptoms have disappeared.
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Search related cases →Original publication on PubMed: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/38005905/