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Please participate in New Pythiosis Study!!

14K views 65 replies 27 participants last post by  weathered 
#1 · (Edited)
With spring just rolling around the corner and many dogs south for the winter, this is a good time to think about this new emerging tropical disease. When you loose a dog to it, it will never....ever leave the back of your mind!

Since I lost a dog to Pythiosis in 2006, I know it is capable of infecting dogs in my area. I have worked very hard to keep myself informed of any new research or treatments for pythiosis. Early diagnosis is the key to surviving infection, so I test my dogs every 6 months to keep abreast of whether they have been exposed.

Unfortunately, there is relatively little new research on the horizon from LSU, and no funding dollars are being given out from Morris Animal Foundation or the AKC Health Foundation.


Description of Pythiosis
Pythiosis is a devastating and often fatal cause of chronic GI or cutaneous disease in dogs, cats, cattle, equines, captive polar bears and humans. It is caused by Pythium insidiosum, an aquatic pathogen belonging to the class Oomycetes. Oomycetes differ from true fungi. Pythium infections are essentially non responsive to antibiotic or antifungal treatments and surgical resection of lesions saves only 20-25% of infected animals. Many dogs with pythiosis have a history of recurrent exposure to warm freshwater habitats. However, some cases are observed in suburban house dogs with no history of access to lakes or ponds. The incidence of Pythium infections in dogs is not known, but the number of confirmed cases has risen dramatically in the last 5 years. Cases in the U.S. have gone from less than 10 a year just 5 years ago to more than 100 cases per year. Experts in the field estimate that 200-300 cases of canine pythiosis will be confirmed in 2008, and many more cases will be undiagnosed or misdiagnosed.


Symptoms of gastrointestinal Pythiosis
Clinical signs associated with Gl pythiosis include weight loss, vomiting, diarrhea, and/or blood in the stool. Physical examination after the disease has progressed reveals a thin body condition and palpable abdominal mass. Signs of systemic illness are not typically present unless intestinal obstruction, infarction, or perforation occurs.


NOW TO THE HEART OF THE STUDY -
Bob Glass with PavLab in Hutto, TX, who is the only scientist I can find actively studying this disease in canines, has volunteered to test up to 200 field trial labs for FREE!! You simply pull the blood on your dogs, fill out his form, and send it in to him. Results are quick and fully confidential. For additional information see my website at http://www.pythiosis.com/fieldtrial.htm


In order to do the blood test 3-5 ml of blood in a red top tube or 1-2 mls of serum should be submitted to the PAVL diagnostic laboratory at the following address. Samples should be refrigerated from the time of collection until shipped, but should not be frozen. It is recommend to ship by Priority Mail with an ice pack if possible.Please complete the attached form.
Click this link for form!
Pan American Veterinary Labs
166 Brushy Creek Trail Hutto, TX 78634 Phone: 800.856.9655 Fax: 512-846-2140 E-Mail: info@pavlab.com


You may also visit my website http://www.pythiosis.com/ for additional information. I received 46 forms from this site with confirmed cases of pythiosis in 2007. Affected areas are as follows:


AR 4, AZ, CA, FL 11, IL, LA 2, MD, MS 3, NC 2, SC 2, TN 3, TX 15, VA

Again, I urge you to participate in this study.....ESPECIALLY if your dogs has been in these states!!

Please contact me if you have any questions,

Tammy Bell
 
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#59 ·
I lost a blf to this disease in the Grapevine tx area. I dont know if it was from a pond or from a rain we had for over 2 weeks straight that year. She was a chewer so I thought maybe from the rain she caught it from chewing on a stick. Its a awful way to loose a dog and hope no one has to go through it.
 
#60 ·
Any outcome from the study?
 
#61 ·
Thank you for renewing this thread. Pythiosis is a very deadly disease and is not so rare anymore, however, still many veterinary practices see very few cases of the disease.

Education is the key to recognizing the disease, and that is why I created the website, http://www.pythioisis.com. It goes into detail concerning the disease, so I will not repost here.

Many thanks to Ann Heise and Dave Rorem for supplying many of the dogs for blood testing for the disease. I thought I had posted those results, but will be glad to again.


Tammy,

Here are the basic stats for the study group.

BL = 175-199
BL= 150-199BL = 175-199# with symptoms
Total%Total%Total%
Negative10661.9913780.1285.84
Borderline4325.15127.02216.67
Positive2212.872212.87627.27
Total Tested17117116

I did the Borderline range at 150-199 and at 175-199 because I think the 150-175 range is too low. We are doing more tests to check this. I use the lower BL range in clinical samples to be sure we pick up on very early infected dogs which have lower scores. I’d rather do this and get a few false BLs than to miss some infected animals.

It is interesting to note the correlation of Positive tests and animals with a history of symptoms. 27% of the positive group reported symptoms vs less than 6% of the negative group.

Robert L. Glass
Pan American Vet Labs
pavlab.com
800 856 9655
 
#62 ·
Well unfortunately my parents' 3 year old dog has just been diagnosed with one of three bad fungal infections, Pythium insidiosum being one of the possibilities. She has been in private lakes and ditches and streams in Barbour County AL. Many dogs get in the same waters regularly, but she is unlucky enough not to have immunity. She has the type that causes lumps on the skin, not the GI kind. She has had surgery to remove some lumps and will have her leg and shoulder amputated tomorrow to remove more that could not be removed with resection. More diagnostic work will be done to determine exactly which one it is. If it is pythioisis, does anyone know the side effects of the newer treatment which is a vaccination? I'd like to help my parents in their decision making by giving them as much information as possible.
 
#64 · (Edited)
The immunotherapy vaccines have little or no side effects. It simply boosts the dog's anti-bodies to fight the pythium insidiosum.

I've given the therapy to my dogs in hopes of acting as a preventative, as the pathogen is very common in MS, AL, LA.

It is just devastating to read the emails from pet owners all around the country who have dogs who are fighting or have fought this disease. After seven years and hundreds of emails, the most effective treatment has been:

immediately begin immunotherapy vaccines with yearly boosters
remove as much of the affected tissue as possible
short term anti-fungals
low dose prednisone

The immunotherapy is not a magic cure since unfortunately the majority of dogs with the disease are still unable to fight the infection, however, I know of very few survivors who have NOT used it. The few dogs who do survive with surgical removal only seem to see the infection return within a year.
 
#66 ·
The dog has a confirmed case of pythioisis. She will be receiving the immunotherapy. She is doing well so far post- amputation. Not really sure what to expect if the disease progresses, but we hope we won't have to see that first hand.
 
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