Experimental Amebiasis in Dogs 1

Abstract

Summary 1. A study of infection of dogs with canine and human strains of Endamoeba histolytica is presented. Altogether 85 dogs were inoculated, of which 65 received inocula of canine strains and 20 received inocula of human strains. Ninety-three and three-tenths per cent of the former became infected and 65 per cent of the latter. 2. The prepatent period for the canine strains averaged 8.4 days and for the human strains, 3.6 days. 3. No clinical or pathological differences were observed between the canine and human strains. 4. The ameliorating effect of liver products on the course of amebic enteritis is described. 5. An extensive series of types of amebic enteritis was obtained, including acute fulminating dysentery, chronic enteritis, convalescent carrier conditions, temporary infection followed by apparent spontaneous recovery, and amebiasis in animals which died of intercurrent animal and bacterial infections. Amebic hepatitis was never observed in the series. 6. The site of the lesions of amebic enteritis in dogs, their depth and histological structure, are described. These are, on the whole, comparable to the lesions found in human amebic enteritis. 7. Comparison of canine infection is made with the picture of amebic enteritis in man, the kitten and the monkey. It is believed that the study of amebic lesions in the dog has explained in part the differences of opinion which have arisen from attempts to describe the essential lesion in man on the basis of experimental work in the kitten.