Page 95 - Journal of Special Operations Medicine - Spring 2014

feet or 1 meter) are two coastal port cities in Colombia. Table 1 Number of Positive Samples to Antigen or Antibody
Volunteer dogs from local veterinary clinics and shelters in Canine Blood Samples Collected in the City of Medellin.
were included. Samples also included free roaming dogs Antigen or
collected by animal control, veterinary clinic staff, or Antibody
community members who brought the dogs into a clinic Positive/
for a veterinary exam. All animal handling and sample Causative Organism All Tested Dogs Prevalence
collection was in accordance with the country’s regula- At least one organism 52/175 30%
tions and adhered to the highest standards for animal Ehrlichia canis (total) 43/175 25%
care and use. A 1–3mL blood sample was obtained via
venipuncture of the cephalic vein from each dog. The Anaplasma 20/175 11%
phagocytophilum (total)
sample was appropriately divided and placed into a tube
with EDTA and a tube without additives. Each sample Ehrlichia canis (alone) 32/175 18%
(whole blood) was tested on-site for heartworm disease Anaplasma 9/175 5%
(D. immitis antigen), canine ehrlichiosis (antibody to E. phagocytophilum (alone)
canis), anaplasmosis (antibody to A. phagocytophilum), E. canis +
and Lyme disease (antibody to B. burgdorferi) using a A. phagocytophilum 11/175 6%
SNAP 4Dx Test Kit (IDEXX Laboratories, Inc., West- (co-infection)
®
®
brook, ME), following the manufacturer’s instructions Borrelia burgdorferi 0/175 0%
(IDEXX Laboratories Inc. 2010). The SNAP 4Dx Test Dirofilaria immitis 0/175 0%
®
®
Kit is a rapid assay test system using enzyme-linked im-
munosorbent assay (ELISA). Results from each blood Table 2 Number of Positive Samples to Antigen or Antibody
sample were recorded as positive or negative for any of in Canine Blood Samples Collected in the City of Barranquilla.
the four diseases tested. The number of positive or nega-
tive samples for each individual disease was recorded, Antigen or
in addition to the number of samples positive to more Antibody
Positive/
than one agent. Causative Organism All Tested Dogs Prevalence
At least one organism 87/223 39%
Statistical Analysis Ehrlichia canis (total) 184/223 83%
Sample prevalence for single disease status was calcu- Anaplasma 90/223 40%
lated as the proportion of positive samples from the total phagocytophilum (total)
of the samples tested in each city. The odds ratios (ORs) Ehrlichia canis (alone) 92/223 41%
for single diseases among cities were compared by logis- Anaplasma
tic regression analysis using the PROC LOGISTIC func- phagocytophilum (alone) 0/223 0%
tion of the Statistical Analysis System (SAS 9.2 2008; E. canis +
SAS Institute Inc., Cary, NC). A. phagocytophilum 90/223 40%
(co-infection)
Results E. canis + 2/223 0.9%
A. phagocytophilum +
The overall canine VBD sample prevalence (infection D. immitis (co-infection)
with one or more VBD pathogen) was 30% in Medellin Borrelia burgdorferi 0/223 0%
and 84% in both Barranquilla and Cartagena. The over- Dirofilaria immitis 5/223 2%
all sample prevalence of E. canis, A. phagocytophilum,
D. immitis, and B. burgdorferi was 62%, 33%, 1.2%,
and 0%, respectively. In the city of Medellin, 25% of the for dogs in Medellin. The odds of being positive for A.
samples were positive for E. canis, 12% for A. phago- phagocytophilum are 5.2 and 8.0 times higher in dogs
cytophilum, and 0% for D. immitis (Table 1). In the living in Barranquilla and Cartagena, respectively, than
city of Barranquilla, sample prevalence for E. canis, A. for dogs in Medellin. For D. immitis, there was no dif-
phagocyto philum, and D. immitis were 82%, 41%, and ference in the odds of being positive among dogs living
1%, re spectively (Table 2). In the city of Cartagena, E. in the three cities sampled.
canis, A. phagocytophilum, and D. immitis sample prev-
alence was 79%, 52%, and 3%, respectively (Table 3).
These results are statistically significant (χ test, 95% Discussion
2
con fidence interval, p < .05). The odds of being positive The three Colombian cities of Medellin, Barranquilla,
for Erhlichia spp. are 14.5 and 12.3 times higher in dogs and Cartagena were selected to provide data from three
living in Barranquilla and Cartagena, respectively, than very important but different regions in Colombia with

Canine Heartworm Disease, Ehrlichiosis, Lyme Disease, and Anaplasmosis in Colombia 87