parasites

Since quite a few people have asked, I have the full report on what the initial Necropsy said ("pulmonary congestion and edema"), as well as the symptoms. It's reprinted below.

Thanks for everyone being so supportive - I really appreciate it.

Presentation:

Litter of three 8 day old French Bulldog puppies. All were healthy, with no clinical signs of disease or illness, all well within or above normal weight gain. At day 8, pup was alive and nursing at 6 am, dead and slightly stiff at 1 pm the same afternoon. Other pups alive and well - mother had pushed puppy to one side of whelping box. No other mortalities, abortions or re-absorptions had ever happened to this bitch or her offspring.

Puppy was placed in freezer and sent to University of Guelph pathology department the next day, where an autopsy was performed by Dr Bilfeld.

Here are his findings, from the Necropsy report (verbatim):

"External findings: small amount of blood staining around nares Body condition: hydration, fat stores, muscle mass excellent Internal findings: thoracic cavity contains 5cc blood stained fluid. Abdominal viscera are congested, spleen is enlarged and meaty. Lungs are
edematous. Myocardial pallor. Valves, outflow tracts unremarkable.

Tentative diagnosis - pulmonary congestion & edema "
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Since I was curious as to how a puppy with an "unremarkable heart" could die from a heart problem, I requested further tests be performed for a more definitive diagnosis. The initial histopathology report from Guelph was toxoplasmosis, with cysts being found in the heart. We performed titer counts on all animals (and humans!) in the household, which were returned negative. I requested a second opinion , and tissue samples were sent to Saskatoon, where the diagnosis was made that there were multiple neospora organisms present in the dead puppy's samples.

Subject: Interview with Dr. Bilfeld
Date: Fri, 16 Jan 1998 11:07:55 -0500 (EST)
From: a list member...
To: x-l list...

This is an interview with Dr. Bilfeld, the pathologist at University of Guelph who did the pathology on the puppy. Sentences prefaced with ** are my questions, followed by his response. I kept the poor man on the phone for two hours, so am very appreciative of his patience.

**The pup who died had no signs of illness - why?

The parasite hits the central nervous system - in this case, the heart, as we saw in the initial autopsy, but it can also affect any other aspect of the central nervous system - the brain, the spinal cord. Cause of death would depend on what it affected - in this case, it weakened the heart, so death was rapid.

**So it could simply appear to be a heart defect on the post mortem?

Yes. Or seizures, if the brain is affected. If it affects the spinal cord, it could appear as paralysis. It would depend on what aspect of the nervous system if affects.

** So I could have a puppy drop dead, and the post mortem might show a heart problem? This is a big deal in our breeds, so that's an important point for me.

Yes, it could if you do not have further tests done. In your puppy's case, the heart was normal in stricture, so we looked further. If we hadn't looked for the cysts, we would have just assumed it was a heart defect.

**Is this a common illness?

Actually, we don't know. It's hard to diagnosis, since it can mask as so many other things that people don't bother doing post mortems on, like spontaneous abortions. We don't know if it's becoming more common, or if it's just being detected more often. We certainly are seeing it more and more.

**Is there a method of treatment for dogs that are infected to eliminate it?

Well, heavy doses of antibiotics seem not to be effective. The best course seems to be anti protozoal - some sulfas like S125 and Albon decrease the rate of infection and reproduction. They can prevent the proliferation of the organism to the point that you can eliminate signs of illness in the dog. This field is still being studied, though. A lot of money is being poured into it - it's a big deal in cattle, but not many studies have been done in dogs.

**Is there a method of detection in pups/adults? If so, what's the screening test and what samples are needed?

The test developed for cattle test works on canines as well. Request the ELISA test for Neospora - you need 1ml of serum from the dog being tested. Make sure the lab your vet uses can run it - it's a specialized test.

**What's the long term prognosis for infected pups?

If they do not show clinical signs of illness after 6 weeks, they are past the danger point from what we understand, especially if treated with anti protozoals. Bitch puppies that show positive signs of infection should not be bred from, as they can pass it to future generations.

**What about the bitch the pups are out of?

Well, if she is infected and positive on the ELISA test she should not be bred from - she does not need to be culled (**put down), but she should be eliminated from the breeding program. It is possible for a bitch four generations back to be the carrier, and to have passed it on to every bitch in every litter, and so on. You have to break the chain.

**So if I have three generations from the same bitch, and no problems until now - no other moralities or abortions - what does that mean?

It would mean that infection would have to be recent. If she was infected before pregnancy there is a good chance she would have had a spontaneous abortion any way. See, the life cycle is not understood - we know it's passed in milk AND the placenta, but there is a SECOND life cycle in the gut via sexual reproduction. It's an API complexian parasite - it has a 2 host cycle.

**Can this cause re-absorption of litters, as well as abortions?

Yes, it can cause one of several things - abortions, re absorptions, early death in neonates.

**What about dogs - can they pass it in semen to bitches?

No, it can be passed transplacentally and via milk, but not through semen or other fluids.

**This is a member of the Coccidia family, right? Is there a tie in - can it mask as Coccidia?

YES - it IS a Coccidia parasite, in the same family of Protozoans. It could look like Coccidia under a microscope - same life cycle, same family. Same symptoms in some cases - diarrhea, lethargy.

**Are we sure of the Infectious route? - is it via ingestion of raw meat? If not, how is it passed?

Well as I said, the difficulty in transmitting is that there is the possibility that one bitch can be a carrier 4 generations back and has been carrying it on for further generations. Studies to induce Neospora in clinical conditions have shown that it can survive in muscle tissue even with refrigeration, so definitely ingestion of raw tissue taken from an infected animal could pass it along.

**Are there further studies I can do to determine if my dogs have it, or if I am worried about possible infection?

Well, determining the initial carrier if at all possible, based on first signs of illness. You should do an ELISA test on any affected bitches and surviving offspring. But remember, even if pups show as affected on an ELISA this is not accurate until approximately four weeks post weaning. The mother's antibodies can carry immunities for Neospora and mask accurate findings from the pups. Fecal samples should be taken from dogs showing signs of illness. Aborted fetuses and the placental tissues can be really useful screening tools. The more people test, the more we can learn about it.
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Offered by a bulldogx-l list member, reprinted with permission.