Published in Scientific Works. Series C. Veterinary Medicine, Vol. LXI
Written by Cristina FERNOAGĂ, Mario D. CODREANU, Mihai CORNILĂ, Raluca Teodora NAE, Mariana IONITA, Ioan Liviu MITREA
Toxoplasmosis is an important parasitic zoonosis caused by the protozoan Toxoplasma gondii, which is widespread in humans and animals worldwide, including dogs. Infection with T. gondii in dogs is usually asymptomatic but cases of severe clinical toxoplasmosis have been reported worldwide. Toxoplasmosis is recognized as an opportunistic disease in dogs and is characterized by neuromuscular, respiratory, and gastrointestinal signs or by generalized infection. The most common neurological signs are characterized by ataxia, circling, behavioural changes, seizures, paralysis, paraplegia, twitching and tremors. In this study we present a clinical follow-up of twenty-seven dogs admitted to the Veterinary Clinic of Faculty of Veterinary Medicine of Bucharest in 2014, presenting with neurological disorders, mainly epilepsy-like seizures. All of them were serological positive for antibodies against T. gondii, as follows: 63.00% (17/27) were positive for both IgG and IgM, 25.9% (7/27) were positive only for IgG, while 11.1% (3/27) were positive only for IgM. The clinical presentation and the outcome of different therapeutic regimes are discussed. The study demonstrates the importance of toxoplasmosis in dogs and represents a basis for further in-depth studies to investigate the risks for clinical canine toxoplasmosis and to confirm, including by PCR, the implication of T. gondii in the neurological pathology in dogs in Romania. In addition to its veterinary importance, toxoplasmosis is also of major zoonotic concern and dogs can serve as epidemiological indicators for local infections
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