Studies on canine anaemia in Ibadan: aetiology.

During a study on 500 dogs in Ibadan, 136 (27·2%) were found to be anaemic. Fifty-two of these were associated purely with blood parasites, twentyone with hookworm infection, while ten were associated with a mixture of blood parasitism and hookworm infection. Seventeen cases were associated with various conditions such as traumatic wounds, transmissible venereal tumour, nephritis, taeniasis, anal gland adenoma, idiopathic epistaxis and lice and fleas infestation. The cause of anaemia in thirty-six cases could not be diagnosed. The blood parasites of definite aetiological significance were Babesia canis, B. gibsoni and Haemobartonella canis. The role of Eperythrozoon species and trypanosornes could not be readily assessed since they occurred concurrently with hookworm.