Peer-reviewed veterinary case report
Dog with joint inflammation linked to Mycobacterium avium infection
By Gelendi, S et al.·Published in The Journal of small animal practice·2022·Department of Internal Medicine, United Kingdom·View original on PubMed →
PetCaseFinder translated the abstract of this peer-reviewed paper into plain English so pet owners can read it. We do not publish original research — every detail traces back to the citation above. How we work →
Original publication title: Mycobacterium avium infection associated with sterile polyarthritis in a dog.
- Species:
- dog
Plain-English summary
A 1-year-old neutered male Portuguese Podengo was brought to the vet for lameness, loss of appetite, fever, diarrhea, and swollen lymph nodes. Tests showed inflammation in his joints and the presence of mycobacteria, leading to a diagnosis of Mycobacterium avium infection linked to his joint issues. After an initial four-month treatment with antibiotics, his joint symptoms improved, but diarrhea returned, and the infection was still present. The treatment was changed to a different combination of antibiotics, and three months later, the dog was back to normal.
People also search for: dog lameness and diarrhea · Mycobacterium avium infection in dogs · treatment for dog joint inflammation
Abstract
A 1-year-old male neutered Portuguese Podengo dog was presented for lameness, inappetence, pyrexia, diarrhoea and abdominal moderate to severe lymphadenomegaly. Cytology of synovial fluid revealed neutrophilic inflammation in multiple joints suggestive of immune-mediated polyarthritis. Cytology of fine-needle-aspiration material obtained from lymph nodes revealed macrophages with intracytoplasmic, rod-like Ziehl-Neelsen positive staining structures, indicative of mycobacteria. Four-month treatment with enrofloxacin, rifampicin and clarithromycin resulted in clinical improvement and resolution of polyarthritis as evidenced on repeat synoviocentesis, but diarrhoea recurred, Ziehl-Neelsen positive organisms were again found on lymph node cytology and analysis of the 16S rRNA-gene using the Basic Local Alignment Search Tool facility resulted in a match to Mycobacterium avium with 100% sequence identity. Treatment was adjusted to include pradofloxacin, doxycycline, rifampicin and ethambutol and 3 months later the dog is clinically normal. Based on the literature search, this is the first time canine Mycobacterium avium infection associated with immune-mediated polyarthritis is reported. Based on scoping searches, this is the first report of canine Mycobacterium avium infection associated with immune-mediated polyarthritis.
Find similar cases for your pet
PetCaseFinder finds other peer-reviewed reports of pets with the same symptoms, plus a plain-English summary of what was tried across them.
Search related cases →Original publication on PubMed: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/34468983/