Dog Ehrlichiosis Symptoms and Treatments

Dog Ehrlichiosis also known as canine rickettsiosis, canine hemorrhagic fever, canine typhus, tracker dog disease, and tropical canine pancytopenia is a tick-borne disease of dogs generally caused by the organism Ehrlichia canis.

Ehrlichiosis in dogs are spread from the brown dog tick, which passes an ehrlichia organism into the dog’s bloodstream when it bites. It is also possible for dogs to become infected through a blood transfusion from an infected dog. There are three stages of ehrlichiosis, each varying in severity. The acute stage will take place several weeks after infection and last for up to a month, can lead to fever and lowered peripheral blood cell counts due to bone marrow suppression.

The second stage, known as the subclinical phase, has no outward signs and can last for the remainder of the dog's life, of which the dog remains infected with the organism. Some dogs are able to successfully eliminate the disease during this time.

In some dogs the third and most serious stage of infection, the chronic phase, will start. Very low blood cell counts (pancytopenia), bleeding, bacterial infection, lameness, neurological and ophthalmic disorders, and kidney disease, can result. Chronic dog ehrlichiosis can be fatal and German Shepherd dogs are thought to be particularly affected by this disease., but cats and humans can also be infected too.

Signs and symptoms of ehrlichiosis in dog include a fever, petechiae, bleeding disorders, vasculitis, lymphadenopathy, discharge from the nose and eyes, and edema of the legs and scrotum.

There are no outward signs of the subclinical phase. Clinical symptoms of the chronic phase include weight loss, pale gums due to anemia, bleeding due to thrombocytopenia, vasculitis, lymphadenopathy, dyspnea, coughing, polyuria, polydipsia, lameness, ophthalmic diseases such as retinal hemorrhage and anterior uveitis, and neurological disease. Dogs that are severely affected can die from this disease.

Supportive treatment care must be provided to dogs with ehrlichiosis. Subcutaneous or intravenous fluids are given to dehydrated dogs, and severely anemic dogs may require a blood transfusion. Treatment for canine ehrlichiosis involves the use of antibiotics such as tetracycline or doxycycline for a period of at least six to eight weeks; response to the drugs may take one month. In addition, steroids may be indicated in severe cases in which the level of platelets is so low that the condition is life threatening.

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