Comparison of simultaneous splenic sample PCR with blood sample PCR for diagnosis and treatment of experimental Ehrlichia canis infection

Antimicrob Agents Chemother. 2004 Nov;48(11):4488-90. doi: 10.1128/AAC.48.11.4488-4490.2004.

Abstract

This report presents evidence that dogs recover from acute canine monocytic ehrlichiosis (CME) after 16 days of doxycycline treatment (10 mg/kg of body weight every 24 h). Blood PCR was as valuable as splenic aspirate PCR for early diagnosis of acute CME. Splenic aspirate PCR was, however, superior to blood PCR for the evaluation of ehrlichial elimination.

Publication types

  • Comparative Study

MeSH terms

  • Animals
  • Anti-Bacterial Agents / therapeutic use
  • DNA, Bacterial / genetics
  • DNA, Bacterial / isolation & purification
  • Dog Diseases / microbiology*
  • Dogs
  • Doxycycline / therapeutic use
  • Ehrlichia canis*
  • Ehrlichiosis / diagnosis
  • Ehrlichiosis / drug therapy*
  • Ehrlichiosis / veterinary*
  • Platelet Count
  • Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction / methods*
  • Spleen / microbiology*

Substances

  • Anti-Bacterial Agents
  • DNA, Bacterial
  • Doxycycline