Line 45: |
Line 45: |
| *Inoculation of susceptible animals | | *Inoculation of susceptible animals |
| | | |
− | | + | [[Rickettsia rickettsii]] |
− | ===Rocky Mountain spotted fever===
| |
− | | |
− | *Caused by ''Rickettsia rickettsii''
| |
− | *Affects humans and dogs
| |
− | *Various tick vectors, which acquire the organism from small mammals
| |
− | *Transovarial and trans-stadial transmission within the tick population
| |
− | *Organisms replicate in endothelial cells of infected dogs, cause vasculitis, increased vascular permeability and haemorrhage
| |
− | | |
− | *Clinical signs
| |
− | **Incubation period 2-10 days; course less than 2 weeks
| |
− | *Fever, depression, conjunctivitis, retinal haemorrhage, muscle and joint pain, coughing, dyspnoea, oedema of extremities
| |
− | *Neurological signs in dogs include stupor, ataxia, neck rigidity, seizures and coma
| |
− | *Death from cardiovascular, neurological or renal damage in severely-affected animals
| |
− | *Gross pathology includes haemorrhage, splenomegaly and lymphadenopathy
| |
− | | |
− | *Diagnosis
| |
− | **Rising antibody titre during an indirect fluorescent antibody test or ELISA
| |
− | **Thrombocytopenia and leukopenia during early phase
| |
− | | |
− | *Treatment and control
| |
− | **Tetracycline therapy for two weeks
| |
− | **Tick removal from dogs
| |
| | | |
| | | |