oxytetracycline--anhydrous and Hematologic-Diseases

Equine granulocytic ehrlichiosis (EGE) has been observed in the U.S.A., Brazil, Germany, Sweden, Switzerland and possibly in Great Britain. The causative agent is rickettsia Ehrlichia equi, identified for the first time in 1969. The clinical features of the disease are anorexia, fever, depression, (limb) oedema, icterus, ataxia, petechiae and orchitis. Hematologic changes are leukopenia, thrombocytopenia, anemia and cytoplasmic inclusion bodies in the neutrophils and eosinophils. Vasculitis may be observed at autopsy. Following a positive hematological diagnosis (Giemsa stained blood smear) of EGE, treatment with oxytetracycline can be initiated.

Topics: Animals; Ehrlichia; Ehrlichiosis; Granulocytes; Hematologic Diseases; Horse Diseases; Horses; Inclusion Bodies; Oxytetracycline

An 11-year-old Hanoverian-cross gelding was evaluated because of acute onset of ataxia, recumbency, and fever. At the stable, this and other horses had recently been infested with ticks. Results of analysis of a sample of CSF were within reference limits, but hematologic abnormalities included lymphopenia, thrombocytopenia, mild anemia, and intracytoplasmic inclusion bodies in neutrophils that were consistent with Anaplasma phagocytophilum (previously Ehrlichia equi). Results of serum biochemical analyses were characteristic of infection and included high, unconjugated bilirubin concentration. Other common causes of recumbency in horses, such as equine protozoal myeloencephalitis, infection with eastern or western equine encephalitis viruses and equine herpesvirus-1, West Nile viral encephalitis, trauma, and metabolic disease, were ruled out. The horse responded quickly to i.v. administration of oxytetracycline and recovered fully within 6 days.

Topics: Acute Disease; Anaplasma phagocytophilum; Animals; Anti-Bacterial Agents; Diagnosis, Differential; Ehrlichiosis; Granulocytes; Hematologic Diseases; Horse Diseases; Horses; Inclusion Bodies; Injections, Intravenous; Male; Oxytetracycline

Topics: Bilirubin; Blood; Cholera; Hematologic Diseases; Hemolysis; Humans; Oxytetracycline