Refractory hypoglycaemia in a dog infected withTrypanosoma congolense

Abstract

A 20 kg German shepherd dog was presented to a French veterinary teaching hospital for seizures and hyperthermia. The dog had returned 1 month previously from a six-month stay in Senegal and sub-Saharan Africa. Biochemistry and haematology showed severe hypoglycaemia (0.12 g/L), anaemia and thrombocytopenia. Despite administration of large amounts of glucose (30 mL of 30% glucose IV and 10 mL of 70% sucrose by gavage tube hourly), 26 consecutive blood glucose measurements were below 0.25 g/L (except one). Routine cytological examination of blood smears revealed numerous free extracytoplasmic protozoa consistent with Trypanosoma congolense. PCR confirmed a Trypanosoma congolense forest-type infection. Treatment consisted of six injections of pentamidine at 48-hour intervals. Trypanosomes had disappeared from the blood smears four days following the first injection. Clinical improvement was correlated with the normalization of laboratory values. The infection relapsed twice and the dog was treated again; clinical signs and parasites disappeared and the dog was considered cured; however, 6 years after this incident, serological examination by ELISA T. congolense was positive. The status of this dog (infected or non-infected) remains unclear. Hypoglycaemia was the most notable clinical feature in this case. It was spectacular in its severity and in its refractory nature; glucose administration seemed only to feed the trypanosomes, indicating that treatment of hypoglycaemia may in fact have been detrimental.

Lepotrema Ozaki, 1932 (Lepocreadiidae: Digenea) from Indo-Pacific fishes, with the description of eight new species, characterised by morphometric and molecular features

“…The only evidence of the life-cycle of Lepotrema is supplied by Kondo et al ( 2016 ), who described metacercariae of L. clavatum from three cnidarians, the moon jellyfish Aurelia aurita (Linnaeus) ( s.l . ), the Japanese sea nettle Chrysaora pacifica (Goette) and the ghost jellyfish Cyanea nozakii Kishinouye, from the Seto Inland Sea, Japan.…”

“…This host distribution can best be considered in the context of the recent report that metacercariae of Lepotrema clavatum infect medusae of several cnidarian species in Japanese waters (Kondo et al, 2016 ). These authors further demonstrated that Thamnaconus modestus and Psenopsis anomala , which both live in association with jellyfish as juveniles, had both nematocysts and juvenile L. clavatum in their guts.…”

An African Canine Trypanosomosis Case Import: Is There a Possibility of Creating a Secondary Focus of Trypanosoma congolense Infection in France?

“…Other sensitive animals express less severe clinical forms. Consequently, CAT clinical diagnosis remains difficult [ 8 , 9 ].…”

“…The causative agents are mainly Trypanosoma congolense , Trypanosoma vivax and Trypanosoma evansi [ 2 , 5 ]. Dogs are also susceptible to infection [ 6 , 7 , 8 , 9 , 10 ].…”

“…Eye damage is not rare, such as keratitis, conjunctivitis and corneal clouding. These non-specific symptoms make it difficult to diagnose these diseases, for which no vaccine currently exists [ 8 , 9 , 10 , 14 , 15 ].…”