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Chapter 1

Introduction
The domestic dog (Canis lupus familiaris) is a member of the
genus Canis (canines), which forms part of the wolf-like canids, and is the most widely
abundant terrestrial carnivore. The dog was the first species to be domesticated (Perri
2016) around fifteen thousand years ago and is faithful companion of man because of
fidelity, loyalty, obedience and pleasant disposition. At present it is popular pet all over the
world and because of their co-operative behaviour and instinct for affinity with humans,
dogs occupy a place in a family as beloved member.

Dogs are susceptible to many infectious and non-infectious diseases. Among

infectious diseases, tick borne diseases like haemoprotozoan and rickettesial diseases are of
great importance because of severe pathogenicity leading to significant morbidity and
mortality among dogs. Brown dog tick, Rhipicephalus sanguineus is the major tick
infesting dogs and act as vector of several agents such as Anaplasma platys, Babesia canis,
Babesia gibsoni, Ehrlichia canis, Hepatozoon canis etc. Co-infections with two
haemoprotozoan or rickettesial organism have also been reported (Deshmukh et al. 2008).

Various risk factors like immune status of the animal, season, age, sex etc. play
crucial role in describing the course of the disease. Rhipicephalus sanguineus is mostly
found during hot and humid periods of the year (Soulsby 2006), and being vector for
several agents, a higher incidence of Haemoprotozoan and Rickettesial infections is present
during warmer months of the year (Dutta et al. 2013).

Various Haemoprotozoan and Rickettesial diseases that affects dogs are Babesiosis,
Anaplasmosis, Ehrlichiosis, Hepatozoonosis, Trypanosomiasis etc. These diseases are
manifested by wide variety of clinical signs like anorexia, depression, haemoglobinuria,
bilirubinuria, anaemia, lymphadenopathy, jaundice, splenomegaly, epistaxis, cataract,
neurological signs and many more depending on the type of the infection.

Canine babesiosis is an important worldwide disease caused by intra-erythrocytic

protozoan parasites of the genus Babesia including B. canis and B. gibsoni. Traditionally
differentiation of these species was performed based on their size within parasitized
erythrocytes. The larger organisms, classified as large Babesia (2 x 5μm), occurring single
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or paired within the cells and the small Babesia (1 x 3μm) usually appearing singly as
round or oval forms in parasitized cells. Most pathogenic strains cause multi organ
dysfunction syndrome (MODS) and systemic inflammatory respiratory disease (SIRD).
The most common haematological abnormalities found in canine babesiosis are anaemia
and thrombocytopenia. Lobetti (2003) stated that moderate to severe thrombocytopenia is
common in canine babesiosis, independent of the subspecies involved.

H. canis is amongst one of the most widespread canine vector-borne disease. In

contrast to other tick-borne protozoa, H. canis infects leucocytes and parenchymal tissues
and is transmitted to dogs by the ingestion of the brown dog tick, Rhipicephalus
sanguineus, containing mature oocysts (Baneth et al. 2001) rather than bite of tick vector.
In majority of the cases, H. canis usually cause a chronic infection with relatively mild or
no clinical alterations to its host. However, the infection has been reported to occur in three
major forms, the most common being sub-clinical, acute form and chronic form. A sub-
clinical infection to mild disease is the most common presentation of H. canis infection
and it is usually associated with a low level of parasitaemia (1–5%), while severe illness
can be found in dogs with a high parasitaemia sometimes approaching 100% of the
peripheral blood neutrophils. The most frequently observed clinical signs are anaemia,
emaciation, intermittent fever, cachexia, depression, muscle hyperaesthesia, purulent
conjunctivitis and rhinitis.

Anaplasma phagocytophilum is the causative agent of granulocytotropic

anaplasmosis in humans and domestic animals. The previous names of the causative agents
include Ehrlichia equi, Ehrlichia phagocytophila and in humans, the HGE (Human
Granulocytic Ehrlichiosis) agent. These organisms are gram-negative, nonmotile, obligate
aerobes, coccoid to ellipsoid, often pleomorphic, varying in size from 0.2 to 2.0 μ m in
diameter. Canine anaplasmosis exhibits wide range of clinical manifestations and multi
organ dysfunctions involving liver and spleen (Harrus et al. 2016). Currently, the diagnosis
of the disease is based on anamnesis, clinical presentation and confirmatory laboratory
investigations which include conventional, immunological and molecular approaches
(Carrade et al. 2009).

Ehrlichia spp. are small, pleomorphic, gram-negative, obligatory intracellular

bacterium of genus Ehrlichia and family Anaplasmataceae. The organism was initially
identified in dogs by Donetein and Lestoquard in Algeria in 1935. Amongst Ehrlichia spp.
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most commonly found and well-studied species in dogs is E. canis and it is the causative
agent of Canine Monocytotropic Ehrlichiosis (CME). Microscopically it appears, intra-
cytoplasmically within monocytes and macrophages in clusters of organisms called as
morulae. The distribution of CME is related to the distribution of the vector and has been
reported to occur worldwide. It is manifested by wide variety of clinical signs like
anorexia, lymphadenomegaly, diarrhoea, depression, lethargy, bleeding tendencies,
neurological and ocular signs etc. The main abnormal haemato-biochemical findings
include anaemia, thrombocytopenia and hypoalbuminemia (Behera et al. 2017).
The diagnosis of these diseases is a difficult task since these are manifested by
variety of clinical, biochemical and haematological abnormalities. Many a times dogs
recover well clinically but sub-clinical infection persists thus acting as source of infection
to other animals. Conventional microscopic examination of blood smear is routinely used
to diagnose haemoprotozoan and rickettesial infections, however it is not a sensitive
technique to diagnose infection because of periodically cryptic nature of the parasite and
low level of parasitaemia. Other serological techniques like ELISA (Enzyme Linked
Immunosorbent Assay), Molecular techniques like PCR (Polymerase Chain Reaction)
provides better diagnostic tool in terms of both specificity and sensitivity and have been
widely used in diagnosing such cases (Waner 2008).
Different drugs alone or in combinations like Diminazine aceturate, Imidocarb
dipropionate, Clindamycin, Doxycycline have been used extensively by various workers to
treat haemoprotozoan and rickettesial infections in dogs with varying success.
Development of resistance to such treatments by these pathogens is a matter of concern
(Amyx et al. 1971).
The variable and unpredictable course and signs of these diseases such as fever,
anorexia, inappetence, jaundice etc. along with variable haemato-biochemical profile
makes it difficult to diagnose these diseases well on time leading to high mortality. The
perusal of records of Veterinary Clinics, COVAS reveals that clinical cases of
haemoprotozoan and rickettesial diseases in dogs are frequently encountered. However, no
systematic study has been carried out on the clinically affected dogs. Thus, the present
study on clinico-therapeutic aspects is being undertaken for better management of these
conditions with the following objectives:
 To study the detailed clinical appraisal of dogs suffering from haemoprotozoan and
rickettesial diseases
 To study the haemato-biochemical changes in the affected dogs
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 To formulate suitable therapeutic measures based upon above investigations