What is Leishmaniasis?
Leishmaniasis is a blood parasite that can cause serious damage to internal and external organs of mammals, specifically dogs. It is transmitted through parasites such as mosquitoes and sandflies. It is also theorised to be passed on from dogs to dogs via vertical and horizontal transmission that means that is possible that a mosquito bites infected dog and transmit to other or even mums to child.
What does Leishmaniasis do?
Leishmania attacks different systems within the body, at the same time. This disease can cause issues, ranging from mild to extreme, such as skin lesions to systematic failure.
Symptoms of leishmaniasis
Leishmaniasis can be a tricky disease because your dog can be affected with the disease but may not show any clinical signs. Furthermore, this disease can remain silent for several years and then be triggered suddenly. Some dogs are more prone to be infected than others. However, they can be outside factors that influence how resistant your dog is to Leishmaniasis, such as stress and a good diet.
However the most common symptoms of Leishmaniasis are:
Loss of hair around the nose, eyes, and ears
Excessive tiredness and/or sadness
Significant weight loss
Tough skin
Muscular atrophy
Joint inflammation
How can I cure it?
Unfortunately, there is currently no cure for leishmaniasis. However there are preventative measures that can be used to fight the spread of this disease, such as:
- Repellent collars
- Using the spot-on pipettes
- Finally, getting your dog vaccinated at your local veterinarian clinic annually.
Who is most at risk?
This disease is a problem all over Spain, but there are areas that are more high risk than others. It is STRONGLY RECOMMENDED to get your dogs vaccinated and use aforementioned preventative measures if you currently live in; Balearic Islands, Andalucía, Valencia, Murcia, Cataluña, Extremadura, and Galicia. Once again, that all dogs get vaccinated to further prevent the spread of this disease.
Keep your pets away from diseases!
