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U.K. dog owners are reportedly on alert after a Shih Tzu who had never traveled far from their Hetfordshire, England, home died after contracting a tropical disease known as leishmaniasis.
According toYahoo, the 3-year-old Shih Tzu developed symptoms, including weight loss, vomiting and diarrhea, over a three-week period, and was eventually put down.
The Royal Veterinary College in Hatfield told Yahoo that the Hetfordshire Shih Tzu’s case was likely the first reported case of leishmaniasis in a U.K. canine that has not traveled to or come from an endemic area.
Dogs and other non-human animals can transmit the disease to each other through biting, but non-human animals cannot directly transmit the disease to humans. Humans can still contract the disease through a sand fly bite.
“Canine leishmaniasis is still not well known here in the U.K. Vets would not have seen these cases 15 years ago, but they are becoming more frequent now as it becomes easier for pets to travel across Europe and the UK,” Paolo Silvestrini, a lecturer in small animal internal medicine at the University of Liverpool, toldVet Times.
Silverstrini also said it is important for U.K. veterinarians to familiarize themselves with these disease now that more dogs are being imported from or adopted out of countries that have sand flies infected with leishmaniasis.
According to the CDC, there are two common forms of leishmaniasis: “cutaneous leishmaniasis, which causes skin sores, and visceral leishmaniasis, which affects several internal organs.”
“Virtually all dogs will develop the visceral form of the disease. Ninety percent will also have cutaneous involvement,”VCA Hospitalssaid of dogs who contract leishmaniasis.
“The clinical signs associated with the visceral form include fever, anorexia, weakness, exercise intolerance, severe weight loss, diarrhea, vomiting, bleeding from the nose, and blood in the stool. Most dogs will develop swollen lymph nodes and an enlarged spleen, and will progress to kidney failure,” the site continues.
Cutaneous leishmaniasis symptoms for dogs include “thickening and hardening of the tissues on the muzzle and footpads,” hair loss and hard bumps on the skin.
If you think your dog has leishmaniasis, it is important to take to them to the vet right away. Leishmaniasis can be fatal and often requires a special drug from the CDC as treatment.
source: people.com
