Persistent Ehrlichia ewingii infection in dogs after natural tick infestation.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Ehrlichia ewingii, which causes disease in dogs and people, is the most common Ehrlichia spp. infecting dogs in the United States, but little is known about how long E. ewingii infection persists in dogs.

Hypothesis/objectives

To evaluate the persistence of natural infection with E. ewingii in dogs.

Animals

Four Class A Beagles; no previous exposure to ticks or tick-borne infectious agents.

Methods

Dogs were exposed to ticks by weekly walks through tick habitat in north central Oklahoma; dogs positive for infection with Ehrlichia spp. by sequence-confirmed PCR and peptide-specific serology were evaluated for 733 days (D). Whole blood was collected once weekly for PCR, and serum was collected once monthly for detection of antibodies to Ehrlichia canis

SUBMITTER: Starkey LA 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4895497 | biostudies-literature | 2015 Mar-Apr

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature