Today's Veterinary Practice

JUL-AUG 2015

Today's Veterinary Practice provides comprehensive information to keep every small animal practitioner up to date on companion animal medicine and surgery as well as practice building and management.

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tvpjournal.com | July/August 2015 | TodAy's VeTerinAry PrAcTice PArAsiTology eXPerTise FroM THe ncVP Peer reviewed 55 infections transmitted by ticks are increasingly recognized as important causes of disease in north American dogs. Veterinarians have been combatting canine bacterial and protozoal tick-borne diseases for decades (Table 1, page 56). in recent years, however, the geographic range of many of these pathogens has expanded, and several novel infections have been identifed, suggesting that the full complement of pathogens transmitted by ticks is more extensive than currently recognized in many regions of north America. All of these infections share a common link: tick transmission. As a result, tick control for dogs is more important than ever. Following is a brief review of diagnosis and treatment of the more common tick-borne infections in dogs, and a description of some newly recognized infections that may become important for canine health in the future. TICK-BORNE BACTERIAL DISEASES Lyme Disease Transmission. Borrelia burgdorferi is the causative agent of lyme disease in dogs and humans in the United states. Transmitted by Ixodes ticks, infection is most common in the northeast, Midwest, and West coast states. in recent years, geographic expansion of the I scapularis/ B burgdorferi maintenance cycle has resulted in increasing reports of disease in new regions, including the great lakes states, Mid-Atlantic states, southern Appalachia, and southern canada. 1 Presentation. clinical signs develop in a minority of infected dogs and include fever, lethargy, and shifting polyarthritis. in some cases, potentially fatal glomerulonephritis can develop. 2 Diagnosis. clinical disease, when present, usually develops several months after infection, and serologic testing is the preferred means of diagnosis. However, most seropositive dogs do not appear to develop clinical signs. s ome serologic targets are highly specifc for B burgdorferi, such as the c6 assay (snAP 4dx Plus and lyme Quant c6 tests, idexx.com), while others, such as immunofuorescence antibody assays, may indicate past or current infection with several Borrelia species, complicating interpretation. 3 Prevention. A combination of vaccination and diligent attention to tick control, with risk awareness supported by routine testing, can prevent lyme disease, particularly in areas where infections are newly endemic. 4 Parasitology expertise from the ncVP Canine TiCk-Borne Diseases Lindsay A. Starkey, DVM, PhD, and Susan E. Little, DVM, PhD, Diplomate ACVM (Parasitology) Oklahoma State University The Parasitology expertise from the nCVP column is brought to you in partnership between the national Center for Veterinary Parasitology (ncvetp.org) and Today's Veterinary Practice. The mission of the NCVP is to further the discipline of parasitology by bringing together partners from academia and industry to address emerging issues, serve the veterinary profession by developing future leaders in veterinary parasitology, and provide diagnostic and consulting services worldwide. Its goals include: • Training graduate veterinarians and other scientists in clinical, applied veterinary parasitology • Promoting outstanding, clinically relevant veterinary parasitology research • Providing diagnostic veterinary services in clinical parasitology to practicing veterinarians • Offering balanced, science-based consulting expertise on parasite treatment and prevention strategies. How the C6 Peptide Detects Antibody When B burgdorferi is transmitted to dogs in nature, the VlsE protein is expressed, resulting in production of antibodies that react to the C6 peptide. However, antibodies reactive to the C6 peptide are not produced following vaccination for Lyme disease, which provides a way to identify past or current infection in dogs. It is important to note that, even with this specifc assay, a positive result indicates past or current infection with B burgdorferi but does not prove clinical disease. H

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