Canine Bartonellosis: What do you know about it? What you don’t know won’t hurt you – that’s what they say. But in a world where zoonotic pathogens are emerging, your ignorance of Canine Bartonella can endanger you and your furry ball of happiness.
This is a vector-borne disease. It is both carried and transmitted by ticks, fleas, mosquitoes, and mites. It is a Gram-negative bacteria and can cause very serious diseases in both man and dog and will move between the two species.
disease vector
Canine Bartonellosis: What do you know about it?
The most important thing for you to know is that, although it is not usually fatal for humans, it is more severe in the immunocompromised patient. The inability to fight off diseases can be because of some chronic conditions including illnesses (such as diabetes, HIV), malnutrition and drugs.
Symptoms of Canine Bartonellosis include:
Fever
Enlargement of spleen and liver
Lameness or joint pain
Swelling and inflammation of lymph nodes
Inflammation of heart muscles
Vomiting and diarrhea
Cough Seizures
Bloody nasal discharge; and
Inflammation of the brain
- In humans, the indicators are:
Small-sized but substantial reddish bump around the bite or scratch
Painful lymph nodes
Shivering
Malaise
Reduced appetite
Nausea
Altered brain functions
Pinkeye
Hepatitis
Bartonella infection has been diagnosed in an otherwise healthy human.
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Transmission Facts
Specialists indicate that although not required to transmit the disease, humans will typically acquire the infection from a bite or a scratch from an infected animal.
Dogs, on the other hand, can become infected when exposed to biting pests. Ticks and fleas are some of the most common perpetrators. Hunting and working dogs that are in contact with livestock and wildlife possess a higher risk of getting infected than those dogs who spend most of their time indoors or in the city.
hunting dog in the field exposed to vectors (fleas)
Diagnosis of Canine Bartonellosis
A thorough evaluation of your dog by his vet is required to diagnose Canine Bartonellosis. This would include a comprehensive physical examination followed by biochemistry profiling and a urinalysis.
Blood work may reveal a decrease in the platelet count. An increase in white blood cells will become evident in affected dogs at some point.
Also, biochemistry profiling will often reveal abnormal levels of liver enzymes and a decreased level of the blood protein, albumin.
PCR testing, more advanced testing for bacterial DNA detection, is not available in all clinics. However, your vet will order it to confirm a positive result. Blood work sent out to other, more sophisticated, labs will take longer for results to be made available.
Treatment Options of Bartonellosis
All animal bite or scratch wounds, whether on a human or a dog, should be thoroughly cleaned and disinfected.
bite wound needs cleaning
Human Medical Therapy
Doctors prescribe antibiotics. which need to be taken for a couple of weeks. In some cases, lymph nodes must be aspirated (drained) to remove the pus.
In general, you should take it easy if you are infected with Bartonella. Since many of the symptoms are the same as of the common flu, you would not feel like doing much anyway. Treatment of symptoms with over-the-counter medications is common.
Canine Medical Therapy
Antibiotics are used to treat symptomatic dogs that tested positive for Bartonellosis. The antibiotics most commonly used often used to treat this infection are Doxycycline and Azithromycin.
Other antibiotics that may be considered are Amoxicillin, Rifampin, and Enrofloxacin. These therapies may last for as long as 6 weeks. Additionally, dogs will be on continuous tick and flea preventive medication indefinitely.
Keep in mind, however, that a well–established protocol of antibiotics for treatment of Canine Bartonellosis is yet to exist. Your vet’s choice of antibiotic therapy may vary from region to region.
Further, antibiotic treatment is only for dogs that actually demonstrate clinical symptoms. Dogs found incidentally to have the infection but without symptoms will not be treated.
Prevention of Canine Bartonellosis
Canine Bartonellosis may not be a grave threat to you and your dog’s health, but there is no question here – prevention is still the best protection.
There is no preventive medication available. But, prevention is possible by knowing and implementing simple ways of preventing exposure to vectors such as ticks, fleas, mosquitoes, and mites.
Both you and your dog can save yourselves from having to suffer the symptoms of the infection. Even if not life-threatening for the majority of us, it can make you pretty miserable for some time.
If you are concerned about fleas and the diseases they carry, you should read this article. https://excellentdogsclub.com/effective-ways-to-prevent-fleas-from-affecting-dogs-and-puppies/?fbclid=IwAR0eRhNTCrOXZuNGu-pPvd46LDzHgCNI737cGaqX17dxxIjemIEoRKVelYM
Photos courtesy of Pixabay
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