Neorickettsia helminthoeca PCR test for dogs
dog and cat assay data sheet
Neorickettsia
helmintheca
Test code:
B0107 - Ultrasensitive qualitative detection of
Neorickettsia helminthoeca by real time polymerase chain reaction
Salmon poisoning disease (SPD) can be a fatal disease when dogs eat raw
salmonid fishes that are infected with the
Neorickettsia helminthoeca
bacteria. N. helminthoeca is
an obligate intracellular parasitic bacterium that lives in the fluke
Nanophyetus salmincola which
infects snails. This disease occurs almost exclusively in the
northwestern United States and along the Pacific coast of Canada,
because the flukes that carry these bacteria mature inside small
snails that only live along the northern Pacific Rim. Dogs get salmon
poisoning disease from eating raw fish – usually salmon, trout or
steelhead – contaminated with the larvae of flukes that contain the
infective bacteria. The fluke larvae invade the dog’s digestive tract,
attach with suckers, feed on the dog’s blood and inject bacteria into
its intestinal lining.
Because of the mechanism of infection, this disease typically begins in
the tissues of the small intestine, where it causes hemorrhaging. It
gradually becomes systemic, invading the entire body. Infected dogs
can develop fever, diarrhea, vomiting, swollen lymph nodes
(lymphadenopathy) and discharge from the nose and eyes.
N. helminthoeca is closely related to
organisms belong to the genus
Ehrlichia, especially the two species,
Ehrlichia risticii (the
agent of Potomac horse fever) and
Ehrlichia sennetsu (the agent of human Sennetsu fever).
Diagnosis of this infection is difficult because the bacteria do not grow
well in laboratory culture. However, molecular detection by polymerase
chain reaction is rapid, sensitive and specific.
Utilities:
-
Help confirm the disease causing agent
-
Shorten the time required to confirm a clinical
diagnosis of
infection
-
Help ensure that canine groups and populations are free of
these bacteria
-
Minimize human exposure to this parasite
References:
Sykes, J.E., Marks, S.L., Mapes, S., Schultz, R.M., Pollard, R.E.,
Tokarz, D., Pesavento, P.P., Lindsay, L.L. and Foley, J.D. (2010)
Salmon Poisoning Disease in Dogs: 29 Cases. J. Vet. Int. Med. 24:
503-513.
Specimen
requirement: 0.2 ml feces or rectal swab; or 0.2 ml whole blood in EDTA (purple
top) tube; or 0.2 ml fresh, frozen
or fixed tissue from dog, snail or fish; or environmental swab.
Contact Zoologix if advice is needed to determine an appropriate specimen type for a specific diagnostic application. For specimen types not listed here, please contact Zoologix to confirm specimen acceptability and shipping instructions.
For all specimen
types, if there will be a delay in shipping, or during very warm
weather, refrigerate specimens until shipped and ship with a cold pack
unless more stringent shipping requirements are specified. Frozen
specimens should be shipped so as to remain frozen in transit. See
shipping instructions for more
information.
Turnaround
time:
2 business days
Methodology:
Qualitative real time PCR
Normal range:
Nondetected
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