Anaplasma

[Pomp]

At the vet today, one of my beagles had anaplamsa antibodies in his bloodwork, which according to the vet means he was exposed and may have the disease. As a result, the doctor prescribed doxycycline which she said would kill the disease if he in fact has it. They are going to check his platelet levels and give me a call tomorrow. I was told that since there is no specific test for the anaplasma itself, the platelet level could give some sort of indication if he has it. She said regardless, he should take the doxycycline. She also said it was possible that the antibodies fought off the infection initially.

Does anyone have any experience with anaplasma? Does doxycycline in fact cure this disease if he has it? Any thoughts would be appreciated.

 

[Jynx]

anaplasmosis? http://www.lakelandveterinaryhospital.com/Anaplasmosis.htm

I beg to differ with your vet..there certainly IS a test for it,,a specific test which costs a bundle, but it is cheaper when done with a SNAP 4. This tests for HW, Lyme, canine erhlichia and equii erhlichia (which is anaplasmosis). I had the specific test done on my aussie around 4 years ago, when it was not incorporated into a SNAP 4, and it cost me around 150$ for just that test. Now that it is incorporated into a SNAP 4, it cost around 65$.

All 4 of my dogs had come up positive for it,,and one , my gsd, I cannot get a negative nor lower 'count' on him to save my butt..I've treated with high and long doses of doxy but it doesn't seem to knock it out of him..

Once a dog has it, they never truly get rid of it, but you can get the levels down for lack of a better description, put it "dormant"..The trouble with anaplasmosis and alot of the tick diseases, here anyway,,is dogs aren't necessarily clinical, yet they come up with positives, or in my dog's case a HIGH positive which is not good especially if left untreated..
Diane

 

[Pomp]

Yes, anaplasmosis and thanks for the reply.

I went to the link you posted and one of the tests, CDC, is what they are doing, which measures the platelet count. According to that site and what the vet told me, if the platelet count is low then it's a good bet that the dog has an infection. Do you know of a specific test which can absolutely test for whether or not a dog has anaplasmosis?

That site also says that doxycycline kills anaplasma, so I'm not sure how they always have it even if they are treated.

 

[SpringerLover]

My dog was diagnosed with Anaplasmosis this spring using a 4DX test. We ran a titer to check for antibody levels. She was high, meaning her body was fighting it... but it wasn't accurate (enough). My vet didn't think we needed to treat, but once we did her limping vanished and hasn't reappeared.

We treated with 30 days of Doxycycline.

Good luck to you and your dog. I hope you have the same success we did.

 

[Pomp]

My dog was diagnosed with Anaplasmosis this spring using a 4DX test. We ran a titer to check for antibody levels. She was high, meaning her body was fighting it... but it wasn't accurate (enough). My vet didn't think we needed to treat, but once we did her limping vanished and hasn't reappeared.

We treated with 30 days of Doxycycline.

Good luck to you and your dog. I hope you have the same success we did.

Thank you for the kind words. I'm a little confused because my dog isn't showing any symptoms. He's his normal self. And the only thing they found today was antibodies. Is it possible he doesn't have it?

And once treated with 30 days of Doxycycline, is that the end of it?

 

[Pomp]

FYI, he did take a SNAP 4DX test today. That is where the vet found their antibodies, not the actual disease itself. I do not believe the SNAP test can see the actual diseases.

Basically, my biggest concern is that once the Doxcycline treatment is done in a month, is he at risk for any long-term, permanent damage?

 

[youbetcha1018]

Anaplasma phagocytophilum can be transmitted to humans.Be careful about it.Anaplasma phagocytophilum causes human granulocytic anaplasmosis (HGA) in humans, which has been recognized as an emerging tick-borne disease in the United States and Europe. Although about 65 cases of HGA have been reported in Europe, some of them do not fulfill the criteria for confirmed HGA.

 

[Jynx]

as I said,,one of my GSD's still is testing HIGH positive for anaplasmosis,,this has been going on for over a year.. Of the 4 dogs I have , all tested positive,,2 were not showing any signs of the disease at all, 2 were. The male that tests high positive, isn't showing signs,,however,,since we can't knock it out of him, it's caused neurological damage because he's been fighting it for so long..
diane

 

[Pomp]

Again, I would like to know what this actual test is. I have been told by numerous vets that there is not a test which can specifically identify the disease. The SNAP test identifies the antibodies and a platelet count is taken to determine if infection may be present. His platelet count is normal.

 

[ledoc]

Maybe this will help. Your body is invaded by something "foreign" - in this case an anaplasma. The body's immune system reacts to protect your body and , amongst other things, produces specific antibodies which then attack the foreign entity. If the immune system is successful in fighting the foreign entity - no disease or problems. If not, your body might start showing clinical symptoms related to the foreign entity although this is not always true.

In any case, the test they are doing is measuring the prescence of specific antibodies in your body that act against the foreign entity (anaplasma), but it is not measuring the presence or absence of the anaplasma.
Of course, if there had not been an anaplasma challenge, there would be no antibodies against anaplasma present.
Usually in these types of scenario's, you need to do multiple tests over a period of time. If the antibody count decreases steadily then it is unlikely that the disease has taken hold, whereas a persistent or increased antibody count would tend to indicate a current infection or re-infection.

Hope that is clearer than mud. Immunology can be very complicated with a lot of grey areas and ifs and buts.

 

[Pomp]

Thank you, ledoc. I also contacted the veterinary hospital that was linked at the beginning of this thread and what you said confirms what they and my personal vet said. I think things are looking good.