Question for Breeders - Page 4

This is a bacterial disease, not a viral disease, and the causative organism is of the genus Brucella and the species affecting canines is called Brucella canis (which should be italicized). Other species of the bacterium affect cows, sheep, horses etc. If there is a call for it, I can post some synopsis on what brucellosis is and the consequences of such an infection. It is a zoonotic disease and this means that, though rare, it can also infect humans. For those of you who wonder about the prevalence, the most recent study I know of was done over a period of 1998-2003 in Oklahoma and though the study was relatively smal at just over 1000 dogsl, almost 14% of the dogs tested were positive through the most sophisticated test available. There are several tests which are used and once identified as positive, a given dog should receive the most sophisticated testing to verify the infection. Most literature recommends infected dogs be destroyed! Consequences for both dogs, male and female, can be lifelong and very mild (*but showing up in death of entire litters) or very serious and include signs one would never think about. Even if the disease was very rare, it should be very, very clear to anyone breeding what the consequences of infection are. There are lifetime consequences for both the breeding dog and any pups which might be created (most do not live to be born). A responsible breeder should ALWAYS test not only their own dog, but require the dog to which it will be mated be tested as well. Since this can be spread via urine, as well as vaginal secretions, placentas etc., a single postive animal can infect an entire kennel population. I hope this helps.

DDR: Love ur humor and ur reply . I enjoy ur knowledge and hope we all learn as much as possible...no not a man, but a german shepherd ate the wood from a pile and they think that is where she got the disease of Clostridium Perfringia D, which is the deadly strain..this is mainly a cattle thing but they llive on acreage in the country and the fungi can be anywhere in flower beds, and they have bad peaches on the ground that she ate all the time but they believe it came from the old wood pile......She was dead 3 hours after she showed signs of being anything wrong and bled to death and vet had her on Ivs and ran test all night long and of course it happened at 9:00 pm in the evening and had to go to the emergency vet hospital and the bill ws so big the owner almost died.......I had sold him Deskya and she was almost ready for her title in the Segolville club and he was devistated....he has another female now that I sold him that was a year old that I had saved to watch her grow because she was high drive and a powerhouse. I dont have the uhuh anymore to train a dog of that caliber so I gladly sold her to him He loves her and she is more trainable then the other dog as far as quick response goes and brains and temperament galore... U never know where these strange diseases come from , so dont second guess any chances.. I told him and everyone , u gotta watch every poop ur dog makes 24/7 because the first hint of diahrea is a sign of either slight problem or horrible problem......they can sluff an intestine in little time.....

Hodie, Thanks for the study information. 14% out of roughly 1,000 is scary.

Animules, yes, I agree, 14% out of 1000 dogs means 140 dogs tested were positive by the most sophisticated tests for brucellosis canis. This stat had increased annually since 1998. So this is probably not an abberation and if one knows enough about the disease, one sees that there are often signs that go unnoticed in dogs who are carrying the bacterium. As for clostridium perfrigans, again, this is NOT a fungus but a bacteria. It is ubiquitous in the environment and yes, if a dog or human picks it up it can cause serious illness. It can be deadly in young pups, but most older organisms can fight it and antibiotics will kill it. This particular strain is responsible for lots of food poisoning illness among humans and other strains are responsible for botulism and tetanus. The important thing about this bacteria is that it forms spores. Spores are VERY hard to kill. This is why it is important to be sure you do not have dogs with these kinds of infections on your grounds and that one cleans up immediately after all dogs. If a dog ate peaches and ingested the seeds, the dog may well have gotten cyanide poisoning. Clostridia would not cause bleeding to death, but cyanide poisoning could be the cause of the signs noted above, even though we are getting second hand information. But it could have been something else altogether. None the less, for those of you who wonder how common brucellosis canis is, I suspect it is more common than we know because few dogs really are tested for it. The consequences of infection are very severe in both the infected animal and in any pregnancy that might result from a mating. I personally would NEVER, EVER mate any dog without both having been tested routinely for several things, including brucellosis canis.