Clinicopathological findings in naturally occurring cases of babesiosis caused by large form Babesia from dogs of northeastern Italy

Abstract

There are few extensive studies about clinicopathological findings of spontaneous canine babesiosis caused by a large form of the parasite found in Europe. To further characterize and describe clinicopathological findings in dogs affected with this large form of Babesia in northeastern Italy, we evaluated 23 Italian dogs with canine babesiosis by means of clinical history, physical examination, hematological, biochemical, hemostatic tests, serum electrophoresis and urinalysis. Seventeen dogs (74%) had recently traveled on a hunting trip (within 5–15 days of being presented to the clinic) to Bosnia and Herzegovina ( n = 7), to Croatia ( n = 8) and to Hungary ( n = 2). The duration of clinical signs ranged from 1 to 5 days prior to the arrival at the clinic. The main clinical signs were dehydration (100%), apathy (74%), anorexia or decrease appetite (70%) and fever (68%). The anemia was present in 74% of the dogs and classified as mild (35%), moderate (59%) and severe (6%). In all cases, the anemia was normocytic and normochromic. Only three dogs presented erythrocyte regeneration. Seventy percent of dogs had hemolytic anemia and 30% had non-hemolytic anemia. Sixty-nine percent of dogs showed leucopenia and 74% neutropenia. Leucocitosis, due to mature neutrophilia and lymphocytosis, was present in one dog. Activated lymphocytes were noted in 61% of dogs. In all dogs, thrombocytopenia and an elevated hyperfibrinogenemia were present. Significant prolonged activated partial thromboplastin time (aPTT) was only found in one case. In four dogs, both plasma fibrinogen/fibrin degradation products (FDPs) and D-Dimer were increased. Antithrombin (AT) was slightly decreased in 11 of the 23 dogs. In the majority of cases, mild elevation of aspartate aminotransferase (AST), alanine aminotransferase (ALT), alkaline phosphatase (ALP), creatinekinase (CK), total bilirubin and lactic acid and decrease of total iron and total iron binding capacity (TIBC) were present. In conclusion, the main clinicopathological findings were a mild to severe thrombocytopenia, a mild to moderate hemolytic anemia, neutropenia and hyperfibrinogenemia.