Peer-reviewed veterinary case report
Tick and heartworm infections in untreated dogs in Russia reserve
By Volgina, N S et al.·Published in Comparative immunology, microbiology and infectious diseases·2013·Veterinary Clinic "Center"·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 We do not publish original research — every detail traces back to the citation above.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: Prevalence of borreliosis, anaplasmosis, ehrlichiosis and Dirofilaria immitis in dogs and vectors in Voronezh Reserve (Russia).
- Species:
- dog
Plain-English summary
A group of dogs living in a protected area in Russia were tested for several tick and mosquito-borne diseases, including heartworm and anaplasmosis. About 12% of the dogs tested positive for heartworm, and 34% had anaplasmosis, which can cause symptoms like fever and anemia. Most of the infected dogs showed no signs of illness, but three dogs with anaplasmosis did develop serious symptoms and unfortunately died shortly after. In comparison, dogs that had received preventive treatments showed much lower rates of these infections.
People also search for: dog heartworm symptoms · anaplasmosis in dogs treatment · why is my dog feverish · dog tick disease prevention · signs of dog anemia
Abstract
Most of the dogs studied for the prevalence of CVBD have previously received acaricidal and insecticidal treatments. In the present work, a very specific population of dogs (Group 1) that had never been treated against ticks and mosquitoes was studied. Moreover, the territory occupied by this population has also never been treated, because it is a protected area--Voronezh Natural Reserve. Canine patients from veterinary clinics (Group 2) that had been treated against VBD vectors were studied for comparison. Eighty-two dogs (Group 1) were enrolled in June, 2008. Blood samples were tested using the IDEXX SNAP(®) 4Dx(®) test. A specific heartworm antigen was detected in 12.2% samples. The seroprevalence for Anaplasma phagocytophilum was found to be 34.1%. The antibodies to Borrelia C6 peptide and to Ehrlichia canis were detected in 2.4% of the samples. Almost all dogs with infections had no clinical signs. Only 3 mixed-infected dogs showed non-specific clinical signs. During the tick season, 358 Ixodes ricinus were collected; the prevalence of Borrelia burgdorferi s.l. and Anaplasma phagocytophilum was 21.9% and 0.6%, respectively. Four hundred and forty dogs (Group 2) were studied for comparison. Antibodies to B. burgdorferi s.l. were detected only in one dog, seroprevalence for A. phagocytophilum represented 1.1%, no E. canis seropositive dogs were identified, and 8.2% dogs were found infected with Dirofilaria immitis. Fifty-six percent of dogs with dirofilariosis had clinical signs. All dogs with anaplasmosis showed specific clinical signs--fever, anemia, splenitis. Three dogs died within a few days.
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/24054985/