First report on Anaplasma platys infection in a dog in the Philippines

Anaplasma platys, previously known as Ehrlichia platys,which causes infectious canine cyclic thrombocytopenia, has notbeen extensively studied in Southeast Asia. Recent reports in theregion have been limited to ticks and dogs in Thailand, and toticks in the Philippines. In this report, DNAfragments of A. platyswere molecularly detected in a dog in the Philippines. Apitbullpuppy exhibited pancytopenia (WBC: 3.5 x103/μL, PCV:11.5%, RBC: 1.2 x106/μL, HGB: 3.7 g/dL, platelet count: 24x103/μL), hepatitis, elevated alanine amino transferase (127u/L), and splenomegaly. Inclusion bodies in the platelets werealso seen in the blood smears of this case. A. platys sequencesobtained in the present study revealed 100% homology with A.platys previously detected in a Rhipicephalus sanguineus tick inthe country. This study documents the first reported case of A.platys infection in dogs in the Philippines, and adds knowledgeto the current vector-borne disease epidemiology in SoutheastAsia.