Peer-reviewed veterinary case report
Dog with mixed Ehrlichia, Hepatozoon, and Anaplasma infections
By Mylonakis, Mathio E et al.·Published in Veterinary clinical pathology·2004·Clinic of Companion Animal Medicine·View original on PubMed →
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Original publication title: Mixed Ehrlichia canis, Hepatozoon canis, and presumptive Anaplasma phagocytophilum infection in a dog.
- Species:
- dog
Plain-English summary
A 5-month-old female mongrel dog was brought to the vet with symptoms like depression, loss of appetite, fever, swollen lymph nodes, and eye discharge. Tests showed she had infections from multiple tick-borne diseases, including Ehrlichia canis and Hepatozoon canis. The vet treated her with doxycycline and imidocarb dipropionate, which successfully cured her of the infections. This case highlights the importance of quick testing methods to diagnose mixed infections in dogs.
People also search for: puppy fever and loss of appetite · dog tick-borne disease treatment · Ehrlichia canis symptoms in dogs
Abstract
A 5-month-old, female, mongrel dog was admitted to the Clinic of Companion Animal Medicine, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Greece, with depression, anorexia, fever, peripheral lymphadenopathy, splenomegaly, oculonasal discharge, nonregenerative anemia, and mild thrombocytopenia. Cytology of Giemsa-stained buffy coat, bone marrow, and lymph node aspiration smears revealed numerous morulae in mononuclear leukocytes and in neutrophils, and Hepatozoon canis gamonts in neutrophils. The dog was seropositive to Ehrlichia canis (immunofluorescence assay [IFA]) and Hepatozoon canis (ELISA) but not to Anaplasma phagocytophilum (IFA). A nested polymerase chain reaction performed on bone marrow aspirates was positive for E canis. This method was not applied for the detection of A phagocytophilum. Treatment with doxycycline and imidocarb dipropionate resulted in both clinical and parasitologic cure. This is the first reported case of a mixed infection with E canis, H canis, and presumptive A phagocytophilum. The findings emphasize the value of cytology in offering a quick and inexpensive diagnosis in mixed tick-borne infections of dogs.
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Search related cases →Original publication on PubMed: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/15570564/