Incidence of Various Types of Bleeding Disorders Associated with Canine Vector Borne Diseases in Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India

Abstract

Background: Animals with various stages of bleeding tendencies are often presented with obvious blood loss and life threatening complications, although some animals are relatively stable, showing only minimal clinical signs. Canine vector-borne diseases and associated bleeding disorders are commonly encountered in routine practice with high morbidity and mortality. Diagnosis, therapeutic outcome and management of bleeding disorders have always been challenging. The objective is to study the incidence of various types of bleeding disorders with their clinical features in CVBD in the city of Chennai, Tamil Nadu. Methods: During the study period (2018-2020) a total of 76, 051 dogs were presented to the Madras Veterinary College Teaching Hospital, Chennai. Sixteen thousand five hundred and twenty nine (16529) dogs were presented with signs of bleeding disorders. Dogs affected with vector borne diseases had various stages of bleeding tendencies (1593 dogs) were subjected to detailed clinical, haematological, biochemical and coagulation profile assessments. Under each etiological group, the dogs were further divided into three groups based on various stages bleeding disorders in order to evaluate the clinicopathological changes in dogs. Result: The observed incidence of bleeding disorders due to canine vector borne diseases in this study were Babesiosis 41.87 per cent, Ehrlichiosis 52.7 per cent and hepatozoonosis 5.5 per cent. The incidence of Ehrlichiosis, Babesiosis and H. canis in the study population was found to be 5.2 per cent, 4.04 per cent and 0.53 per cent. Dogs due to E. canis, 51 per cent had anaemia and thrombocytopenia, 26.1 per cent had pancytopenia and 22.9 per cent had pancytopenia and DIC. Dogs due to B. gibsoni, 47.7 per cent had anaemia and thrombocytopenia, 28.5 per cent had pancytopenia and 23.8 per cent had pancytopenia and DIC.