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by mariaartashes on 21 October 2011 - 13:10
by hexe on 22 October 2011 - 02:10
"judron55
How can be babesios misdiagnosted in different countries by the vets? Babesia are microorganisms and can be seen in a microscope in a blood samle. Is it possible to make a mistake with chemical intoxication?"
There are several ways misdiagnosis could occur in a situation like this--unless it is determined that the babesia organisms were identified in blood smears from every dog that became ill, there's really only a *presumption* that this is what is causing the illness in the dogs which became sick. It would not be out of the realm for a vet to treat the dog based on it's symptoms and the fact that the dog's handler tells him/her that other dogs who competed in the same event have become seriously ill and some have died as a result of the sickness--so it's hard to know exactly how many dogs were diagnosed with babesiosis based on visualization of the organism under the microscope, versus how many were 'diagnosed' based on clinical signs and the report that babesiosis was going through the WUSV canine competitors.
Another possibility is that the problem isn't babesiosis at all, and while babesia were observed in blood samples from some or all of the sick dogs, the true source of the acute and fatal effects is something else, such as a toxin; the babesia may be a red herring, or may be quite secondary to something more significant. Or both conditions could co-manifest--babesiosis AND toxicity from some type of chemical exposure...that could explain why the affected dogs are so seriously stricken when they fall ill, much more so than it typically seen in babesiosis cases.
Or the affected dogs could all have been exposed to babesia well before they arrived at the WUSV event, had never suffered a clinical bout of the disease and were simply carriers that were then exposed to something toxic at the event, and it is that toxic substance that is causing the illnesses and deaths--and had there never been an exposure to the toxin, no one would have ever even known that these dogs had previously been exposed to and infected by babesia.
As a Canadian poster mentioned on the other page (I apologize for forgetting your screen name), without a full epidemiologic work-up, there's simply no way to know for sure exactly what is going on with these dogs, and whether or not this situation could have been prevented and how. So very sad for the handlers of the dogs who have died, and for the ones still hanging on the edge and fighting to recover; relieved to hear that more of them have turned the corner and are recuperating now. There are serious lessons to be learned from this, and I hope that all of the dogsport organizations heed them and apply what they've learned.

by alboe2009 on 22 October 2011 - 07:10
by mariaartashes on 22 October 2011 - 07:10
by cordon on 22 October 2011 - 14:10
mariaartashes
The information is coming from Uwe Stolpe kennel " Lübarser Schlösschen" (screen name doghunter) in Germany. If you can read in German you can sign up on this german forum http://www.leistungshundeforum.de/index.php?page=Thread&threadID=18372&pageNo=6 and find out for your self or email Uwe at http://info@dogtrainer.de
Mfg,
Cordon
by mariaartashes on 22 October 2011 - 15:10
Thank you, cordon!
by cordon on 22 October 2011 - 15:10
by mariaartashes on 23 October 2011 - 11:10

by wanderer on 26 October 2011 - 20:10
"I am interested in performing PCR tests on all of the dogs that attended this event (I am cc'ing some of the event coordinators in hopes that they can help facilitate). i could facilitate the PCR testing for free if the owners can pay to have the samples shipped to my lab and fill out the questionnaires. it would be amazing if we had blood samples banked from any competitors before the competition.
IF we can test all of the dogs and have their owners fill out a some questionnaires we may be able to figure this out the most likley reason this happened."
His coordinates:
Adam Birkenheuer, DVM, PhD, DACVIM
North Carolina State University
College of Veterinary Medicine
4700 Hillsborough St.
Raleigh, NC 27606

by Mystere on 26 October 2011 - 22:10
This is wonderful to hear. Permission to cross-post?
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