title: Mycoplasma haemocanis infection--a kennel disease?
abstract: Mycoplasma haemocanis (formerly Haemobartonella canis) is a red blood cell parasite that causes disease mainly in immunosuppressed and splenectomized dogs. Clinical outbreak of the disease resulted in failure of a large experimental project. We aimed to identify whether M. haemocanis has increased prevalence in kennel-raised dogs. In a prospective study, we compared the prevalence of M. haemocanis in whole blood (anti-coagulated by use of EDTA) collected from pet dogs (University of Illinois, Urbana Champaign, Ill.; n = 60) with that in blood from dogs raised in three distinct kennels in western Europe (WE; n = 23), eastern Europe (EE; n = 20), and North America (NA; n = 20). Screening included antibody testing and microscopy of blood smears. The presence of M. haemocanis was identified using a polymerase chain reaction (PCR) assay for specific DNA of the organism. None of the pet dogs (0%) was test positive for M. haemocanis DNA. Mycoplasma haemocanis was found in dogs tested at all of the kennels. Infection rate in the three kennels was 30, 35, and 87%, respectively (all P < 0.001 versus control, chi2-test). Latent infection with M. haemocanis was not a single observation in kennel-raised dogs. Prevalence may be higher than that in a pet dog population. The potential exists for these latent infections to adversely affect or confound research results.
authors.affiliation: Institute for Surgical Research, Klinikum Grosshadern, Ludwig-Maximilians-University Munich, Germany.
authors.forename: Gregor I
authors.initials: GI
authors.lastname: Kemming
authors.forename: Joanne B
authors.initials: JB
authors.lastname: Messick
authors.forename: Georg
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Enders
authors.forename: Mihaly
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Boros
authors.forename: Baerbel
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Lorenz
authors.forename: Silvia
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Muenzing
authors.forename: Hille
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Kisch-Wedel
authors.forename: Werner
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Mueller
authors.forename: Agnes
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Hahmann-Mueller
authors.forename: Konrad
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Messmer
authors.forename: Eckart
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Thein
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D000830:Animals, Laboratory; D004283:Dog Diseases / Q000097:blood / Q000453:epidemiology*; D004285:Dogs; D006799:Housing, Animal; D009174:Mycoplasma / Q000378:metabolism; D009175:Mycoplasma Infections / Q000097:blood / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000662:veterinary*; D011446:Prospective Studies