Abstract
This case report describes a concomitant infection in a litter of puppies with two apicomplexan protozoa Neospora caninum and Hepatazoon canis. The different potential routes of infection are discussed along with a description of the course of the disease. A private practitioner in the South of Israel (Beer Sheva) submitted blood samples for serological testing for toxoplasmosis and neosporosis from a pup of 6 weeks of age (from a liter of 6 pups) showing neurological symptoms. The results were seropostive for N. caninum and seronegative for toxoplasmosis. After 3 weeks another pup also started to develop neurological signs. Samples including blood smears, serum samples for serology for Neospora and Toxoplasma and fecal samples from all the pups. Out of the 6 pups tested four were found seropositive for Neospora while all pups were seronegative for Toxoplasma. Of the six pups, four were found to be infected with Heptaozoon canis, three of which were coinfected with N. caninum. One pup was infected with only H. canis and another pup with only N. caninum and a third pup was found to be negative for both H. canis and N. caninum. Treatment consisted of trimethoprim sulfadiazine and clindamycin which were administered for six weeks. The pups recovered completely, with the exception of paresis of the left hind limb in the first diagnosed puppy. An important conclusion from this case report is the need to test all pups in a litter for N. caninum where even only one pup shows clinical signs. Furthermore treatment at an early age and for a prolonged period of time appeared to be successful in preventing the progression of the clinical signs. To the best knowledge of the authors this is the first natural concomitant infection case of N. caninum and H. canis in a litter of puppies.
Original language | English |
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Pages (from-to) | 53-56 |
Number of pages | 4 |
Journal | Israel Journal of Veterinary Medicine |
Volume | 70 |
Issue number | 1 |
State | Published - 2015 |
Bibliographical note
Publisher Copyright:© 2015, Israel Veterinary Medical Association All rights reserved.
Keywords
- Concurrent infection
- Dog
- Hepatazoon canis
- Neospora caninum
- Pups