Masters of Foxhounds cancel meets and lead attempt to prevent
disease spread
Leishmaniasis invades foxhound kennels
The disease
Leishmaniasis, a parasitic disease generally limited to tropical and subtropical
areas, has been found in several Foxhound kennels in the US.
The disease was discovered this summer when hounds at a New York hunt club
became deathly ill with skin lesions, nose bleeds, swollen lymph nodes, weight
loss, seizures, swollen joints and kidney failure. Although it can also infect
people, this outbreak seems to be confined to Foxhounds.
As a result of the disease episode, the Masters of Foxhounds Association of
America cancelled its remaining interpack meets for the year, recommended that
huntsmen keep their dogs at home, and joined forces with the federal Centers
for Disease Control and Walter Reed Army Medical Center to determine the prevalence
- and hopefully the means of transmission - of the disease. The Foxhound Club
of North America donated $10,000 to hire an additional technician to conduct
the tests.
CDC checked dogs from hunts near the infected New York kennel and pet dogs,
horses, and rodents in the area, and all were negative for the disease. Veterinarians
at North Carolina State University worked with CDC to collect blood and genetic
samples from dogs kept in hunt kennels throughout the country and in Canada.
By early August, more than 7000 of the 12,000 MFHA registered foxhounds had
been tested, and signs of the disease were noted in hounds in 21 states.
About 12 percent of the dogs had some anti-bodies to the disease, indicating
that they had been exposed to the parasite. MFHA recommended that dogs with
low or moderate anti-body counts be isolated for observation and retested in
six months and that dogs with high anti-body counts be given a DNA test of tissue
or fluid from the lymph nodes, spleen, or bone marrow.
The scientists also tested more than 400 pet dogs (other than Foxhounds) throughout
the country; none were infected.
The disease
Leishmaniasis is caused by a protozoa, a miniscule one-celled animal that wreaks
havoc in a host body. The vector for leishmaniasis is a species of sandfly,
a biting insect that transfers the protozoa from an infected animal to an uninfected
animal. In the past, victims of this disease in the US have visited the Middle
East, South America, or Africa where the sandfly lives, but these recent cases
have occurred in animals that have not traveled in these areas. Scientists are
baffled about the source of the hounds' disease, not only because the host sandfly
species does not exist in the US, but because the affected dogs do not live
in a tropical or subtropical area. So far, other biting insects have not been
implicated as carriers.
Scientists at CDC believe that direct contact with secretions from an infected
hound are necessary to contract the disease. Transmission is difficult; the
protozoa are fragile and susceptible to both sunlight and water.
Treatment is expensive and drawn out, and mortality rate is high. Therefore,
MFHA recommends that kennel managers keep alert to the disease symptoms, test
dogs that appear to be sick, and euthanize affected dogs or donate them for
clinical study. Dogs that die mysteriously should be subject to a necropsy by
an informed pathologist, and any testing or retesting done in cooperation with
CDC.
So far, leishmaniasis has not been a problem for pet owners or for kennel owners
other than those involved in foxhunts. However, owners should be alert to the
symptoms and the possibilities, especially since scientists have yet to discover
the source of this outbreak or its mode of transmission.
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