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Leishmaniosis in a dog with no travel history outside of the UK
Author(s) -
McKenna Myles,
Attipa Charalampos,
Tasker Severine,
Augusto Monica
Publication year - 2019
Publication title -
veterinary record
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.261
H-Index - 99
eISSN - 2042-7670
pISSN - 0042-4900
DOI - 10.1136/vr.105157
Subject(s) - leishmania infantum , pancytopenia , puppy , medicine , serology , leishmaniasis , vomiting , veterinary medicine , bone marrow , leishmania , pathology , surgery , immunology , visceral leishmaniasis , biology , parasite hosting , antibody , ecology , world wide web , computer science
A 3‐year‐old male neutered Shih Tzu cross was presented for investigation of a three‐week history of weight loss, seborrhoea, vomiting and diarrhoea. Initial clinicopathological findings included pancytopenia, mild hypercalcaemia and marked hyperglobulinaemia. Subsequent bone marrow and skin biopsies revealed the presence of Leishmania amastigotes. Quantitative serology was positive for Leishmania species and PCR on the bone marrow sample confirmed a Leishmania infantum infection. The patient had been in the owner's possession since a puppy, had no travel history outside of the UK and had never received a blood transfusion or been used for breeding. However, another dog in the household that had been imported from Spain had been euthanased six months previously due to severe leishmaniosis. To the authors’ knowledge, this is the first reported case of canine leishmaniosis in the UK without a history of travel to an endemic area, and most likely represents a case of dog‐to‐dog transmission.