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Instinctive Hunting Companions |
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Cause of Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever Linked in Canines and Humans [Friday, February 17, 2006] |
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Raleigh, NC — The AKC Canine Health Foundation announces the completion of Grant Number 2610 — Molecular Approach to Determine the Spectrum of Rickettsial Diseases in Dogs. Although some Rickettsia-type diseases are well-characterized causes of acute, severe and sometimes fatal Rocky Mountain spotted fever (RMSF) in dogs and people, prior to this study, the role of some species as a cause of disease in dogs was not yet established.
Until now, there was no gene sequence data from a naturally occurring Rickettsia isolated from a dog. The significance of the findings — with work being completed at the North Carolina State University College of Veterinary Medicine — is that these results confirm on a molecular level that R. rickettsii isolated from dogs with clinical manifestations consistent with RMSF in North Carolina is highly homologous (genetically identical) to R. rickettsii that causes the disease in people in the same region — further proving that research funded by the Canine Health Foundation is lending credence and findings to benefit human research as well.
"In addition to enhancing our understanding of the most lethal tick borne infection of dogs and people in the United States, the funding from the AKC Canine Health Foundation has assisted me in training a veterinary internist who will continue to make research contributions in human and veterinary medicine," says principal investigator, Edward Breitschwerdt, DVM. Upon completion of her Ph. D., Dr. Linda Kidd, the graduate student who performed these studies, has been selected for a postdoctoral research scientist position at Scripps Institute.
The study will further national bioterrorism research as well. According to Dr. Breitschwerdt, The National Institute of Allergic and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) has recently named as research priorities the recognition of genetic modification of pathogens and the understanding of the natural emergence of infectious diseases in order to distinguish natural pathogens from genetically-modified organisms that emerge through intentional release (Bioterrorism).
Dr. Breitschwerdt's lab is also working on studies with other tick borne bacteria to determine if there is a relationship between infection and the development of certain cancers (lymphoma). This project will determine if Anaplasma, Bartonella or Ehrlichia species are prevalent infections in Golden Retriever dogs with lymphoma.
The results of this completed project entitled Molecular Characterization of Rickettsia rickettsii Infecting Dogs and People in North Carolina were presented at the Fourth International Meeting on Rickettsiae and Rickettsial Diseases La Rioja, Spain June 2005. A manuscript of the same title has been accepted for publication in the Proceedings of the New York Academy of Sciences.
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