Basesiosis

Babesiosis

What Is It:

Babesiosis is a tick-borne hemoprotozoan (blood) disease. The organism is called Babesia, the disease is called Babesiosis.

Species:

Babesia canis, Babesia gibsoni

Primary Vector:

Brown Dog Tick (must feed a minimum of 2-3 days to transmit)

Other Vectors:

Deer Tick, blood transfusion, contaminated needles and instruments, transplacental.

Diagnosis:

There are two tests being used by Veterinarians to detect infection:

1) The IFA (Indirect Fluorescent Antibody Assay) test is used to detect the presence of antibodies to the disease in a dogs blood serum. This test will determine a titer level; less than 1:40 is considered Negative (minimal exposure), a titer above 1:80 is considered Positive for an active infection. The IFA is considered the most reliable test for detecting infection.

2) The Giemsa Smear is used to locate the actual organism in the dogs blood. Despite appropriate staining technique and intensive film examination, the organisms frequently cannot be found.

Titer info:

Titers counts double: 1:10, 1:20, 1:40, 1:80, 1:160, and so on. A high titer can be caused by repeated exposure to the disease, a large number of active organisms in the blood, or a better immune system response of a specific dog. (i.e. a dog responds naturally with more antibodies than another dog).

Titer is an indication of exposure to a specific foreign protein. It does not indicate that there are active organisms in the blood.

Comments:

Babesiosis is a cyclical disease, similar to Malaria. Dogs that recover from the initial infection show variable and unpredictable patent periods alternating with dormant periods.

The clinical signs vary greatly depending upon the stage of the disease, the age and immune status of the dog, and complications from other infections.

Phases:

Acute - This phase is of short duration, and is where the dog is initially infected with the disease. If the dog does not die outright from the infection, then it moves on to the next phase.

Subclinical - This phase can last months or years. It is characterized by a fine equilibrium between the parasite and the immune system of the host. This equilibrium can be disturbed by a number of things: environmental stress, additional diseases/infections (especially Ehrlichiosis), immunodeficiency, spleen removal, surgery, stress, hard work, imunosuppressive treatment, use of corticosteroids (Prednisone is a no-no). The dog may exhibit few clinical symptoms during this phase, beyond intermittent fever and loss of appetite. If the equilibrium is disturbed, the parasite will begin to slowly grow in number and the dog will move into the next phase. Infected Greyhounds are often in this phase when they are adopted out.

Chronic - If the dogs system remains unable to clear the parasite, it enters this final phase. The most obvious initial signs to an owner are a cycle of: lethargy, loss of interest in food, and a gradual loss of body condition especially evident around the eyes and along the spine. Other symptoms are: upper respiratory problems - coughing or labored breathing, vomiting, constipation, diarrhea, ulcerative stomatitis (sores in the mouth), edema (swelling), abdominal swelling (ascites), bleeding under the skin or a rash (purpura), low White Blood Cell count (thrombocytopenia), clotting problems, joint swelling, back pain, seizures, weakness, increased liver enzyme, low Platelet count, hyper reflective eyes, enlarged lymph nodes, enlarged spleen, septic shock, depression.

Misdiagnosed as:

hemolytic anemia, kidney failure, vague blood disorder, thrombocytopenia, "doggie aids", autoimmune disease, Von Willebrands disease, leukemia, DIC (disseminated intravascular coagulation - severe clotting disorder).

Treatment:

The current drug of choice (Imidocarb Dipropionate) is not yet FDA approved. It is a chemo-therapeutic agent that is being experimentally tested on Babesia infected Greyhounds across the U.S.. Imidocarb is the least toxic of all of the anti-babesial drugs, and the success rate is stated in research papers to be 95 - 98%. There are also un-substantia- ted claims of Doxicycline and/or Clindamycin being used to treat Babesia.

Two Labs that perform the IFA test:

Protatek Reference Lab

574 E. Alamo St., Suite 90, Chandler, AZ 85225; (602) 545-8499

Instructions for Tick Fever Panel: Draw 3cc of blood, use a serum-separation tube, spin down, refrigerate until mailing. Try to mail early in the week, ship tube upright in ice and use priority mail.

Corning Clinical Lab

P.O. Box 305125, Nashville, TN 37230; No instructions available.

http://www.k9web.com/dog-faqs/medical/tick-diseases.html