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Update on Pythiosis

7K views 17 replies 9 participants last post by  ahooper 
#1 ·
Ragin' Rusti Steel 3/19/02 - 7/14/06

It is almost one year to the day that my first field trial lab, "Ragin' Rusti Steel", died from Pythiosis. I am posting below some promising news concerning this disease.

I've spent much of the last year trying to educate other dog owners and veterinarians about the blood test and curative vaccine. It now looks like there is real progress being made in finding a cure.

Below is a copy of an email sent to me from a lady in Texas describing her experience with Pythiosis. I know it is lengthy but very informative!

Thank you all for your support and please tell others!

Tammy Bell

________________________________________

PLEASE CROSS POST and Share with your veterinarian.

In the Americas, the disease is known to occur in North, Central and South America as well as the Caribbean islands. In the United States, the disease is more commonly reported in the states along the Gulf of Mexico: Alabama, Florida, Louisiana, Mississippi, and Texas. However, several cases in dogs, equines, and humans have occurred in states such as Georgia, Illinois, Kansas, Missouri, Oklahoma, North and South Carolina, Tennessee (human), New Jersey, New York, Wisconsin, California and Oregon. (Currently 2 young girls in Florida are being treated.)

Many of you read articles of Charlie and Maggie in March. My dogs have 2 acres to play on and an air conditioned dog room with a dog door to come and go. However, Charlie always liked the girls so after a neighbor’s dogs visited our fence line while in season, Charlie decided he needed to visit her. Unfortunately, Maggie followed through the same hole. Having never been loose my dogs were not street smart and did not know about cars. Their ended joy run ended in disaster 5 miles from home. My sweet boy, ‘CH Robbsdale’s Charlie Rt Man For The Job’ was hit and killed and Maggie, ‘CH Cimmaron’s Southern Magnolia’ was lost for 3 days. We got Maggie back; however, while lost, she ate and drank anything she found. In early May she was diagnosed with the fatal disease of Pythiosis. We had lost a girl to this disease in 2005 so my heart sunk, but this time God was with us. After nearly 2 months of treatment Maggie is chasing butterflies, spreading toys and eating fine.

The MIRACLE this time was Bob Glass and Pan American Vet. Lab. www.pavlab.com A friend found a new site on the internet, www.pythiosis,com . This is a site that Tammy Bell of Mississippi dedicated to her lovely Labrador, Rusti who died of Pythiosis in July of 2006. Tammy’s goal with the site was to hopefully save at least one dog. I am proud to say it is Maggie. Tammy informed me there was now a $45 blood test to diagnosis Pythiosis. She put me in touch with Bob Glass, whom along with Mr. Mendoza of Michigan State has been researching Pythiosis for several years. Mr. Glass just received approval in Feb. 2007 to begin a study with his NEW dog serum. Maggie was number 14. Of the first 18, only 2 have died; one was very advanced. (= 90% survival)

“Pythium normally grows in plants such as grass and weeds. It reproduces in wet conditions by developing a motile “spore” that “swims” from the infected plant to a new plant and sets up a new infection. This motile “spore” does not live long, perhaps a few hours to a few days. I’m not real sure about exactly how long, but it does not live “through the winter”. I don’t have any specific information on how the Pythium survives the winter, but I expect it would be protected from the cold in any infected plants that don’t freeze completely.

Historically Pythium has been thought to be limited in geographic range to warm, wet areas such as the tropics and, in the US, to the Southern coastal regions. While it is certainly true that Pythium is more common in these regions we now are finding Pythium in colder and drier climates. It is interesting that we now know that golf courses with well kept grass and stand water (traps) are an excellent reservoir for pythium.”

Bob Glass

I truly believe more dogs die of Pythiosis than are ever diagnosed. Most vets have heard of the disease, but are unfamiliar with it. The disease is usually misdiagnosed as Irritable Bowel Syndrome, cancer, Pancreatitis, or unexplained Intestinal Problems.

Maggie vomited on Wed. morning and again Wed. evening. I called the vet. on Thurs., but he was out of the office. She continued to vomit her meals on Thurs and we saw the vet on Fri. Friday morning I noticed blood in her stool. My vet ran all of the normal test and x-ray; everything was negative. He made us an appointment with the Vet. Specialist in Houston for Monday. Over the weekend, a friend found Tammy’s website so I contacted her. Afterwards I contacted Mr. Glass. I had been through the same symptoms before and lost a beautiful girl to Pythiosis, so I followed my own gut. Prior to going to the vet specialist I stopped at a different vet to have a tube of blood drawn. I took the blood myself to the downtown Houston post office and Express Mailed it to Mr. Glass.

I followed through with the specialist; Maggie and I spent from 9 am to 6 pm at the specialist having ultrasound, endoscope and IV fluids. I questioned the vet. specialist several times about Pythiosis. His tentative diagnosis: 1st IBS and 3rd choice Pythiosis (unlikely). Biopsies would be back on Thurs.

Mr. Glass received the blood on Tues. morning and by that afternoon he called with the horrible news. Maggie tested strong positive for Pythiosis. Fortunately, I had not sat around. Mr. Glass was offering a 50% chance of survival which was 45% higher than anybody else could offer so Maggie had her first injection Wed. about noon. My vet. notified the specialist on Tues.; Wed afternoon the specialist called me to confirm his test also said Pythiosis. I chose to continue with Mr. Glass. Maggie also had several prescriptions to control the symptoms; she had to eat to survive while the serum let her body build antibodies. We had some very long nights, but Maggie is fine. In early May I did not expect Maggie to see her second birthday; she turned 2 on June 16th. She is back to 2+ miles a day.

Please save and cross-post this message. If your dog ever has similar symptoms, I would highly recommend you contact Mr. Bob Glass. 800-856-9655

Janie Norris
 
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#3 ·
Great job Tammy. Thanks for the dedication you have to educate folks on this terrible sickness. Rusti is mighty proud of his mama I'm sure.
I hope Rusti's son is doing well.

Gene
 
#6 ·
Kristie, thanks. I know this occurs often in your neck of the woods. Your husband will be a great asset.

Gene said:
Great job Tammy. Thanks for the dedication you have to educate folks on this terrible sickness. Rusti is mighty proud of his mama I'm sure.
I hope Rusti's son is doing well.
Gene
Thanks, Gene, this is a DEADLY disease, and these results are very exciting. I wish there were a cure for all of these rare diseases. I am so blessed to have a son out of Rusti....thanks to you!!

Last Frontier: Blasto is a fungal disease. Pythiosis is fungus-like but worse. It has been virtually untreatable....worse than cancer.

Brian, I am glad you have a diagnosis. I am sorry for your loss.

I urge all of you to keep the faith and do your research. Where there is a will....there is a way!

Tammy
 
G
#7 ·
I live in Southern Maryland & to lost a dog from Pythiosis back in 1993. :cry: Dr Carol Foil from LSU is who diagnosed the disease (my vet sent pieces of the tumor to Vets in several different states looking for a diagnosis). Back in 1993 there was no blood test or any way to diagnose the disease other than a biopsy. They have come a LONG way in regards to Pythiosis, thank god!!!!!!!!
 
#9 ·
My 4 yr old boxer Duke was just diagnosed with GI pythiosis. We have contacted Mr. Glass and thursday we are beginning Duke's treatment with the vaccine. My family is just holding onto hope that this will save him. We brought him home today from the vet where he was administered a bag of IV fluids and a steroid shot to reduce the pain and inflamation in his intestines. He's been suffering from bloody diarrhea, dehydration, and loss of appetite. He's been going through this for about 2 weeks while we were desperately trying to find a diagnosis and has lost about 10 pounds. Today the steroid was helping him and he ate a good amount of puppy food and some boiled chicken and drank plenty of water. Our vet has also given us a low dose steroid to start administering this weekend, along with an appetite stimulant. I believe that we are also going to start him on antifungal medication. Can anyone tell me what the statistics are of a survival rate on the vaccination plan?
 
#10 ·
Is Capsofungin (Cancidas) used in dogs? It is a newer antifungal that works on cell wall components other than the egosterol. Sounds like that was the mechanism of resistance?
Not all drugs are effective in dogs/humans, but this will often work in amphoterecin and fluconazole resistant infections.
 
#11 ·
I created a website, www.pythiosis.com , when Rusti died to help others whose dogs have been diagnosed with Pythiosis. Since that website went online in early 2007, I have received over 300 contacts from people with dogs diagnosed with Pythiosis.

There are still no real breakthroughs in treating this terrible pathogen. Aggressive treatment is crucial, as the disease progresses quickly and overcomes most dogs in 3-4 months. Depending on whether the disease is cutaneous or gastrointestinal and how early the disease is diagnosed, treatment options include surgery to remove the affected tissue, anti-fungals and the PavLab immunotherapy vaccine.

LSU did a few studies back in 1999 and mentioned that Amphotericin B lipid complex (Albelcet) seems to work somewhat better than the other anti-fungals. I don't believe LSU has done much research since then.

Pythiosis is caused by the oomycete pathogen, pythiosis insidiosum, which is not a true fungus, therefore, anti-fungals are very ineffective and very EXPENSIVE.

A Brazilian study published Sept. 3, 2007, mentions Capsofungin. The conclusion states, "The results showed that caspofungin has limited fungistatic activity against P. insidiosum. This work is the first study to analyse the susceptibility of this oomycete to inhibitors of ß-glucans of the cellular wall."

Our best hope, in my opinion, lies with the curative vaccine that is 99% effective in Equines. PavLab makes the Equine vaccine and has developed a canine version that has been FDA approved for treatment of Pythiosis. The survival rates are still very low but seem to be much better if the disease is caught in its early stages within the first two months.

Many hunt test and field trial people on this forum helped PavLab with a study to test our retrievers for exposure to this pathogen. Suprisingly, almost half of the retrievers tested had been exposed to Pythium. Fortunately, most dogs' immune systems are able to fight the disease, and very few succumb to it.

Much more research MUST BE DONE to help find out why some dogs succumb to this pathogen. I have received emails from MANY dogs this year in NC and FL..... more than I want to count....that have died from it.

There are a few dedicated people working the project right now. Hopefully, we can announce some research and funding plans that will greatly help those dogs who are overcome with this disease SOON!!
 
#12 ·
Scary on the increase, Any particular part of Florida or all over?
 
#13 · (Edited)
Hi Tammy

Remember me Jim from FL? My dog Harry tested positive 2 x, I went through with shots and was glad I did. Remember also I sent blood to LSU and they told me, I absolutely did not have pythiosis.

It's was disapointing to have two very different results. I didn't want to take a chance so the $100 shot was a no-brainer for me. Any chance LSU and Bob are both on the same page now?

Thanks for your help during that time!
 
#14 ·
Hi Tammy

Remember me Jim from FL? My dog Harry tested positive 2 x, I went through with shots and was glad I did. Remember also I sent blood to LSU and they told me, I absolutely did not have pythiosis.

It's was disapointing to have two very different results. I didn't want to take a chance so the $100 shot was a no-brainer for me. Any chance LSU and Bob are both on the same page now?

Thanks for your help during that time!
Hi Jim,

No, I haven't forgotten you!! I am so glad that you and Harry are doing well! There aren't many success stories for Pythiosis, so still having Harry around is a true blessing

Unfortunately, LSU does not recognize the work that Bob has done for Pythiosis and hardly will mention the immunotherapy vaccine even after they have diagnosed a dog with the disease. A terrible shame and discrace if you ask me.... I thought we were all in the business to help the dogs???

The LSU blood test is either 'yes' your dog has it or 'no'. They still will not discuss the details of it with me. Bob with Pavlab's test gives you a titre type reading.

From what I have learned about the disease, the challenge in saving a dog is in the early diagnosis. Once the pathogen has had time to overcome the dog's immune sytem and develop colonies in the intestinal tract, there is little chance of recovery.

Having lost a dog to this terrible disease and then seeing hundreds of other dogs lost each year, I will opt to test with the PavLab blood test and then vaccinate if I get a high positive. BETTER SAFE THAN SORRY...RIGHT??!!
 
#15 · (Edited)
Good Morning Tammy

Thank you for your detailed response. You are so correct about LSU,... disappointing. With what contact I had with them, I felt like they were always were in question of Bob's tests and his treatment. What really gets me Tammy, is them not giving credit to Bobs treatment,... especially when we look as see what their treatment is!

I had my dog tested three times by Pavlab, and he was HIGH positive all three. I acted very quickly and started the shots after the results on the second test, and I will tell you this,.... as soon as treatment started, dog got better very fast.

I have had a number of people PM me asking what my dogs symptoms were. VERY loose stool and blood in that stool. (Try Tammy's website for much better info) I started here with my local vet to rule anything obvious out and went from there. Some people were asking "Should I get the test done?" I say, "why the heck not, if you are running in areas that could be affected and aren't finding success else where at least then you could rule pythium in or out?"

Tammy, on another note, I have seen that you new dog is running well these days! I am very happy for that. Couldn't happen to a better person!!!!
Find retrievers.com is also really neat too!

:)
 
#16 ·
Thanks so much, Jim! :p

Update on recent (last two months) areas of infection:

Pearland, TX
Cape Coral, FL
Jacksonville, FL
Columbia, SC
Panama City, FL
Fleming Island, FL
Beulaville, NC
Hudson, FL
Eastover, SC
Rockwell, NC
Westlake, LA
Umatilla, FL
Sanibel, FL
N. Fort Myers, FL
Olive Branch, MS
Tupelo, MS
Meridian, MS
Jacksonville, FL
Tallassee, AL
West Point, MS
Thibodaux, LA
Sarasota, FL
 
#17 ·
Are these the cities where the dogs live - or where they think they picked up the pythiosis?

Thanks
 
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