Epidemiological, Surgical and Therapeutic Studies on Canine Ehrilichiosis in Giza governorate, Egypt

Abstract

Ehrilichia canis (E.canis) infects dogs causing variable clinical signs and forms. It is usually ended by mortalities if not treated well. The early diagnosis is very important to correctly treat E.canis infected dogs before the complications occur. Different diagnostic methods including clinical, postmortem, whole blood, blood smears examinations were investigated in comparison with indirect ELISA for the diagnosis of E.canis infection . Treatment trial with two regimes were applied separately on two groups of E.canis infected dogs. It was found that the prevalence of E.canis was (5.15%) and (6.59%) by using blood smear and indirect ELISA respectively. The highest prevalence was in German shepherd dogs (2.29%). Postmortem examination in the necropsied German shepherd dog revealed splenomegaly. Whole blood examination showed that anemia, leukopenia and thrombocytopenia in E.canis infected dogs. The combination of oxytetracycline and imidocarb is preferred to treat E.canis infected dogs. It was concluded that E.canis is more prevalent in German shepherd dogs, is best diagnosed by indirect ELISA and blood smear examinations and is best treated by oxytetracycline and imidocarb combination.