Peer-reviewed veterinary case report
Dog in Germany with spleen changes from Babesia canis but no symptoms
By Kanstinger, Alina et al.·Published in Tierarztliche Praxis. Ausgabe K, Kleintiere/Heimtiere·2025·Kleintierklinik Ettlingen·View original on PubMed →
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Original publication title: [Splenopathy in a dog from Germany with autochthonous Babesia canis infection without clinical and hematological abnormalities].
- Species:
- dog
Plain-English summary
A 6-year-old female Lagotto Romagnolo from Germany was found to have an enlarged spleen during a routine ultrasound, but she showed no signs of illness. Tests revealed that she had been infected with Babesia canis, a parasite that can cause serious disease in dogs, but she didn't display any symptoms or abnormal blood results. The findings suggested that she might have had a previous exposure to the parasite or a mild form of the disease. This case highlights that sometimes infections can be present without obvious signs of illness.
People also search for: dog spleen enlargement · Babesia canis infection in dogs · Lagotto Romagnolo health issues
Abstract
Splenomegaly with diffuse heterogeneous parenchyma was detected in a 6-year-old female Lagotto Romagnolo from Germany during routine ultrasonographic examination. The cytologic examination of a fine needle aspirate of the spleen revealed reactive lymphoid hyperplasia and extramedullary hematopoiesis. During diagnostic workup, babesiosis with highantibody levels and evidence ofwas diagnosed as the cause of the splenic parenchymal findings. At no time, the dog showed any clinical signs or clinicopathologic findings associated with the infection, although active babesiosis was diagnosed. Due to the high antibody level, it can be postulated that the dog had already been exposed to the pathogen at an earlier stage or that she had a subacute course of the disease.To the authors' knowledge, this is one of the few descriptions of babesiosis with structural splenopathy with evidence of extramedullary hematopoiesis as the only indication of the presence of the infectious disease and without corresponding clinicopathologic findings.
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Search related cases →Original publication on PubMed: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/41314246/