Ehrlichia canis major immunoreactive proteins of 36 and 19 kDa elicit the earliest detectable antibody responses during the acute phase of canine monocytic ehrlichiosis. Genes encoding the major immunoreactive 36-kDa protein of E. canis and the corresponding ortholog of E. chaffeensis (47 kDa) were identified and the proteins characterized. The molecular masses of the strongly immunoreactive re...

Ehrlichiosis is the multiorgan infectious disease caused by small, intracellular rickettsias from the genus Ehrlichia. These microorganisms are known as an etiologic factor of infections world wide in humans and in different species of animals. Dog ehrlichiosis can be caused by several species of Ehrlichia attacking different groups of blood cells, but most often an infection by Ehrlichia canis...

Pathogens transmitted by ticks are an emerging problem worldwide, this study aimed to diagnose the causal agents of infection in dogs presenting suspected hemoparasitoses. Fifty-eight dogs with clinical signs such as depression, hemorrhagic diathesis and fever were evaluated regarding clinical presentation, hemogram, blood smears and serological tests, using the indirect immunofluorescence meth...

Ehrlichiosis is a worldwide distributed disease caused by different bacteria of the Ehrlichia genus that are transmitted by arthropod vectors. Its occurrence in dogs is considered endemic in several regions of Brazil. Regarding cats, however, few studies have been done and, consequently, there is not enough data available. In order to detect Ehrlichia spp. in cats from the central-western regio...

The aims of our study was to identify Ehrlichia canis and antibodies against Rickettsia spp. belonging to the spotted fever group (SFG) in dogs sampled from Paraiba state, northeastern Brazil. Blood and serum samples collected by convenience from dogs in urban areas of five municipalities were analyzed by real-time PCR for the detection of E. canis DNA and by immunofluorescence assay test (IFAT...

A total of 4190 blood smears were collected between January and December 2007 from dogs exhibiting clinical signs of haemoprotozoan infections. On blood smear examination 485 blood smears were found to be positive for various haemoprotozoa and rickettsia. Among the positive cases , the majority of haemoprotozoans identified were Babesia gibsoni 84.9%, followed by Ehrlichia canis 6 %, Hepatazoan...

BACKGROUND Minocycline has been used in the treatment of Ehrlichia canis infection in dogs as an alternative to doxycycline, the recommended treatment. However, efficacy of this alternative therapy is unknown. OBJECTIVE To assess the efficacy of minocycline in the treatment of natural occurring E. canis infection in dogs. ANIMALS Ten privately owned dogs of mixed breed positive for E. canis...

Dogs infected with Dirofilaria immitis, Ehrlichia canis, or Borrelia burgdorferi may show nonspecific clinical signs or may be asymptomatic. In Brazil, E. canis and D. immitis infections are frequently diagnosed based on the presence of classical signs; however, serologic tests are seldom performed to confirm the presence of infection. To estimate the seroprevalence of these three canine diseas...