Diagnostic Utility of Rapid Immunochromatographic Testing and Comparative Efficacy of Therapeutic Regimens in Canine Ehrlichiosis

Abstract

Canine ehrlichiosis is an important tick-borne disease of dogs that requires early and reliable diagnosis for effective clinical management. The present study was undertaken to compare the diagnostic performance of a rapid immunochromatographic test with peripheral blood smear examination and to evaluate the therapeutic efficacy of minocycline, doxycycline, and imidocarb dipropionate in affected dogs. A total of 1,214 dogs were examined, of which 149 clinically suspected cases were subjected to diagnostic evaluation using a rapid immunochromatographic test and peripheral blood smear examination. Eighteen confirmed cases were randomly divided into three groups of six dogs each. Clinical, haematological, and biochemical parameters were evaluated before treatment and on days 14 and 28. Of the 149 suspected dogs, 117 (78.52%) tested positive by the rapid immunochromatographic test, whereas morulae were detected in only 12.08% of cases by blood smear examination. Affected dogs commonly showed inappetence, fever, pale mucous membranes, lethargy, melena, and thrombocytopenia, along with evidence of mild hepatic and renal dysfunction. Both minocycline and doxycycline produced marked clinical improvement and faster restoration of altered haematological and biochemical parameters compared with imidocarb dipropionate. All dogs treated with minocycline recovered completely by day 28 without adverse effects, whereas two dogs in the imidocarb-treated group died during the study. The findings indicate that the rapid immunochromatographic test demonstrated a higher detection rate and greater clinical utility than peripheral blood smear examination for the routine evaluation of suspected cases of canine ehrlichiosis, and minocycline may serve as an effective alternative to doxycycline for its treatment.