Haematological Alterations Associated with Selected Vector-Borne Infections and Exposure in Dogs from Pereira, Risaralda, Colombia
D. Katterine Bonilla-Aldana,
Erwin J. Gutiérrez-Grajales,
Daniela Osorio-Navia,
Mariana Chacón-Peña,
Adrián E. Trejos-Mendoza,
Soffia Pérez-Vargas,
Lorenzo Valencia-Mejía,
Luisa F. Marín-Arboleda,
J. Paola Martínez-Hidalgo,
María Angelica Reina-Mora,
Luz Victoria González-Colonia,
Jaime A. Cardona-Ospina,
Erika Vanessa Jiménez-Posada,
Diego Andrés Diaz-Guio,
Jean Carlos Salazar,
Manuel Sierra,
Fausto Muñoz-Lara,
Lysien I. Zambrano,
Eduardo Ramírez-Vallejo,
Juan Camilo Álvarez,
Ingrid Lorena Jaramillo-Delgado,
Samuel Pecho-Silva,
Alberto Paniz-Mondolfi,
Álvaro A. Faccini-Martínez,
Alfonso J. Rodríguez-Morales
Affiliations
D. Katterine Bonilla-Aldana
Research Unit, Universidad Continental, Huancayo 12000, Peru
Erwin J. Gutiérrez-Grajales
Red Colombiana de Enfermedades Transmitidas por Garrapatas en Pequeños Animales (RECEPA)–Colombian Network of Tick-Borne Diseases in Small Animals (RECEPA), Pereira 660003, Colombia
Daniela Osorio-Navia
Institución Universitaria Visión de las Américas, Pereira 660003, Colombia
Mariana Chacón-Peña
Institución Universitaria Visión de las Américas, Pereira 660003, Colombia
Adrián E. Trejos-Mendoza
Institución Universitaria Visión de las Américas, Pereira 660003, Colombia
Soffia Pérez-Vargas
Institución Universitaria Visión de las Américas, Pereira 660003, Colombia
Lorenzo Valencia-Mejía
Institución Universitaria Visión de las Américas, Pereira 660003, Colombia
Luisa F. Marín-Arboleda
Institución Universitaria Visión de las Américas, Pereira 660003, Colombia
J. Paola Martínez-Hidalgo
Institución Universitaria Visión de las Américas, Pereira 660003, Colombia
María Angelica Reina-Mora
Institución Universitaria Visión de las Américas, Pereira 660003, Colombia
Luz Victoria González-Colonia
San Lucas Centro Veterinario y Diagnóstico, Pereira 660003, Colombia
Jaime A. Cardona-Ospina
Institución Universitaria Visión de las Américas, Pereira 660003, Colombia
Erika Vanessa Jiménez-Posada
Grupo de Investigación en Infecciones Emergentes y Medicina Tropical, Instituto para la Investigación en Ciencias Biomédicas, SCI-HELP, Pereira 660003, Colombia
Diego Andrés Diaz-Guio
Vitalcare, Armenia, Quindío 630001, Colombia
Jean Carlos Salazar
Vitalcare, Armenia, Quindío 630001, Colombia
Manuel Sierra
Unit of Scientific Research, School of Medical, Faculty of Medical Sciences, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de Honduras (UNAH), Tegucigalpa 11101, Honduras
Fausto Muñoz-Lara
Department of Internal Medicine, Faculty of Medical Sciences, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de Honduras (UNAH), Tegucigalpa 11101, Honduras; Department of Internal Medicine, Hospital Escuela, Tegucigalpa 11101, Honduras
Lysien I. Zambrano
Unit of Scientific Research, School of Medical, Faculty of Medical Sciences, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de Honduras (UNAH), Tegucigalpa 11101, Honduras
Grupo de Investigación One-Health, Departamento de Investigación de Enfermedades Infecciosas en Animales, Centro de Diagnóstico Especializado Testmol, Medellín, Antioquia 050001, Colombia
Ingrid Lorena Jaramillo-Delgado
Red Colombiana de Enfermedades Transmitidas por Garrapatas en Pequeños Animales (RECEPA)–Colombian Network of Tick-Borne Diseases in Small Animals (RECEPA), Pereira 660003, Colombia
Samuel Pecho-Silva
Faculty of Health Sciences, Universidad Cientifica del Sur, Lima 15046, Peru
Alberto Paniz-Mondolfi
Laboratory of Medical Microbiology, Department of Pathology, Molecular and Cell-based Medicine, The Mount Sinai Hospital-Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY 10029-6574, USA
Álvaro A. Faccini-Martínez
Research Institute, Fundación Universitaria de Ciencias de la Salud-FUCS, Bogotá 11011, Colombia
Alfonso J. Rodríguez-Morales
Red Colombiana de Enfermedades Transmitidas por Garrapatas en Pequeños Animales (RECEPA)–Colombian Network of Tick-Borne Diseases in Small Animals (RECEPA), Pereira 660003, Colombia
Infections due to Ehrlichia, Anaplasma, Dirofilaria, Mycoplasma, Babesia and Hepatozoon continue to be highly prevalent in dogs, especially in tropical and subtropical areas, where vectors of many of them are present. However, many clinical aspects of dogs have not been characterized in detail, including assessing the haematological alterations associated with them, particularly in Colombia and Latin America. A group of 100 dogs with Ehrlichia, Anaplasma, Dirofilaria, Mycoplasma, Babesia and Hepatozoon infections/exposure were assessed by blood smear serology (SNAP4DX) and PCR in Pereira, Colombia. We performed blood counts to evaluate anaemia, leukopenia/leukocytosis, neutropenia, neutrophilia, lymphopenia/lymphocytosis, monocytosis, eosinophilia, and thrombocytopenia, among other alterations. Bivariate analyses were performed on Stata®14, with significant p Ehrlichia 75%), and 89% presented clinical alterations. A total of 100% showed anaemia, 70% thrombocytopenia, 61% monocytosis, and 47% neutropenia, among other alterations. Additionally, 11% presented pancytopenia and 59% bicytopenia. The median platelet count was lower in infected dogs (126,000 cells/μL) versus non-infected (221,000 cells/μL) (p = 0.003). Thrombocytopenia was higher among infected dogs (75%) versus non-infected (40%) (p = 0.006), with a 91% positive predictive value for infection. Median neutrophil count was lower in infected dogs (6591 cells/μL) versus non-infected (8804 cells/μL) (p = 0.013). Lymphocytosis occurred only among those infected (27%) (p = 0.022). Leukopenia was only observed among infected dogs (13%). Pancytopenia was only observed among infected dogs. Ehrlichiosis and other hematic infections have led to a significant burden of haematological alterations on infected dogs, including pancytopenia in a tenth of them, most with thrombocytopenia and all anemic.