EHRLICHIOSIS – a dreaded blood parasite

EHRLICHIOSIS – a dreaded blood parasite

Ehrlichiosis
has been, by far, one of our “bestsellers” for the end of the third quarter of 2005. It estimates about 80 cases for the month of August alone. What is Ehrlichiosis? How do we, as dog owners protect our pets from it? Is it zoonotic (transferable to humans)? This article aims to answer these questions and hopes to inform all you dog lovers out there to avoid the occurrence of the disease.
Ehrlichiosis is a disease caused by the blood parasite Ehrlichia sp. It inhabits and destroys circulating white blood cells.

How is it transmitted?
It is tramsmitted through the bite of the common brown tick. One infected tick is enough to transmit the disease to your dog.

What should dog owners look out for?
Clinical symptoms may include, epistaxis (nosebleeding – common in german shepherds), spleenomegaly (enlargement of the spleen), hepatomegaly (enlargement of the liver), edema of the (nagmamanas), bloody diarrhea usually black in color (indicating the presence of digested blood), vomiting (with or without blood). These are common symptoms found in a dog with ehrlichiosis, however, some dogs may not show signs at all. If you have a dog you suspect has ehrlichiosis or has been diagnosed for ehrlichiosis, its best to have all the dogs within your household checked as well. Many do no show signs until is too late.

What should my vet be checking?
First off, your vet should be taking a complete physical examination. He/she should be checking all the vital signs, the eyes, ears etc. It is especially important to check the mucus membranes and the capillary refill time to gauge whether you dog is anemic or not. Skin turgor is also checked for possible dehydrations. Then abdominal palpation is done. A skilled veterinarian should be able to determine whether your dog has abdominal organ enlargements such as those mentioned above. A CBC (complete blood count) should be done to give a better idea of the internal situation of the body. Dogs with ehrlichiosis usually show a decrease in platelet count, and white blood cell count. Ultimately if bleeding is great, red blood cell counts will also decrease. A blood smear will give an idea of the type of anemia your pet has, and if your lucky the ehrlichia parasite may be visible. However, visual diagnosis on smear of ehrlichiosis is very rare and it is unlikely that a confirmatory diagnosis can be done through a blood smear. The recommended confirmatory diagnosis to ehrlichiosis is an ELISA (enzyme linked immunoassay) test which can be done by your local veterinarian. This test may be a bit expensive but in the long run it could end up saving you a lot of money as well as your pet’s life.

How to avoid ehrlichiosis? Is there a vaccine?
Unfortunately there is no vaccine and the only prevention of the disease is proper maintenance and sanitation. Make sure that your dog remains tick free and the surrounding areas uncontaminated. For maintenance, you can give your dog a bath regularly at least once a week with anti-tick soaps and shampoos. You could also use anti-tick and flea powders, collars or sprays. Also make sure you regularly clean the area where your pet most frequently stays. Spraying with organophosphates and pesticides will kill the ticks and fleas, however, please use these products with extreme caution since these are poisonous to both humans and dogs. We advise that the dogs and children not be present during spraying of these areas and that they are not let lose in the area for at least half a day.
Lastly, ehrlichiosis can be transferred to humans so be sure to take care in handling infected dogs.

Keep your pets clean, keep them healthy