Babesiosis is an infectious tick-borne disease of small mammals, including dogs and cats. It also can affect people. Babesia are tiny organisms that live inside of their host’s red blood cells. Babesia eventually destroy those cells, causing the infected animal to become anemic. Anemia is a condition that develops when the number of red blood cells in an animal’s blood stream becomes abnormally low. Anemia – whether caused by babesiosis or some other condition - can be fatal.
Babesiosis is caused by a tiny parasite that infects the red blood cells of dogs and other mammals. Two species of this parasite have been identified in the United States: Babesia canis (“large babesia”) and Babesia gibsoni (“small babesia”). Babesia organisms are transmitted to dogs in the saliva of ticks. Ticks pick up these parasites when they bite infected rodents, like mice, rats, rabbits and squirrels. The infective form of the parasite is called a
How badly a dog feels when it is infected with Babesia probably depends mostly upon the extent of damage to its red blood cell supply. Dogs of any age or breed can become infected with these parasites. Dogs with severe babesiosis will be weak, tired and depressed. They will be reluctant to rise and move around and probably will lose their appetite. They may also lose weight.Babesiosis can cause extremely debilitating disease in some dogs.
Babesiosis is not particularly difficult to diagnose, although the more advanced diagnostic techniques will require sending blood samples out to a specialized veterinary pathology laboratory. Standard blood work performed on dogs suspected of having babesiosis includes a complete blood count and a serum biochemistry profile. In dogs with babesiosis, the results of these tests typically reveal low numbers of circulating red blood cells (this is called a low packed cell volume [PCV], or anemia). The
Dogs with babesiosis may or may not need to be hospitalized, depending upon the severity of their disease. Any attached ticks should be removed from the animal as quickly as possible. If the dog is dehydrated, supportive care will include aggressive administration of intravenous fluids. Blood transfusions, either with whole blood or packed red blood cells, may be necessary, especially if the animal is severely anemic. Certain oral medications that can potentially clear the organism