My dog may have Canine Leishmaniasis. HELP! need info.?

Question

I am currently waiting for the test results but it will be another 3 weeks. I have a problem with the language as I am in Italy and it's not really clear. I got info from the internet but I want to know - If he has it what will I be in store for?
Is he going to die from this??? Or can he live in good health with treatment? Please help!

Answer 1

Leishmaniasis is a fatal disease for the dog if not treated. The treatment (as for malaria in man), can only reduce the importance of crisis, because the parasite stays alive in the different organs. No treatment is able to get rid of it, and there is no vaccine either.

Consequently the dog will stay a potential source of dissemination of the parasite during his whole life. There will always be a high number of infected phlebotomes around him. Euthanasy of affected dogs is sometimes proposed, but its interest is controversial because the dog is probably not the only one source of leishmania.

Generally, the treatment consists in series of injections of GlucantimeND, dispatched over several weeks, and renewed at each recurrent crisis. Thanks to this treatment, the life expectancy of affected dogs is considerably lengthened. Prognosis depends on the precocity of the diagnosis, on the nature of lesions that are observed, and on eventual immunitary complications.

On another site they said that Canine leishmaniasis is resistant to therapy. Most clinicians feel that the dog never will eliminate the infection and that retreatment will be necessary. The drugs of choice arepentavalent antimonials.

It should be remembered that leishmaniasis is a public health concern (zoonotic) and care should be taken in both handling and treating canine cases.

Answer 2

It really depends on the type and severity of the disease. Leishmaniasis is transmittable to humans so I don't know if they're going to suggest quarantining your dog if he has this.

I hope they're already treating your dog for this disease, as if he has got it 3 weeks will be too long to wait. It can cause anaemia by affecting the liver and/or spleen. Leishmaniasis is caused by a parasite, and drugs do exist to treat this. I think they would want to administer these to your dog if he's displaying symptoms (lesions of the skin and/or the mouth, enlarged spleen or liver problems, anaemia) and if you live or have been in an area where leishmaniasis is endemic i.e where there are sandflies about.

Chalice

Answer 3

Serious zoonotic protozoal infection of man and animals.
Cause : intracellular protozoan parasites of the genus Leishmania
Transmission is predominantly by sand-fly bites
Specific signs include chronic weight loss, lymphadenopathy, alopecia and exfoliative dermatitis, nodular skin lesions, chronic renal failure and epistaxis

The prognosis for resolution of clinical signs is good in animals treated early.
Relapses following treatment are common.

Look like it depends on how quickly you caught it, and treating it effectively.