# Blastomycosis



## BulldogsNBama (Nov 5, 2010)

Anybody ever lost a dog to blastomycosis or had one come down with it?  Any suggestions that might help, besides the normal line of treatment prescribed by the vet?  

I lost a Rottweiler to this many years ago.  Now I have a sick dog and I'm thinking it may be blasto again.  The vet isn't sure at this point and my dog has mixed signals.  I know the disease can mimick other things.  I mentioned it to the vet right off and she is not ruling it out.  She is just thinking bacterial pneumonia and has the dog on a round of antibiotics right now.  I'm just afraid of waiting to see if it's truely bacterial or not.  I know the earlier the treatment, most likely the better the prognosis.  I guess I may be a little paranoid about blasto, having already lost one from it.


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## quailchaser (Nov 5, 2010)

Hope your dog gets better. I didn't know what this was so I had to look it up. Hope you don't mind me doing this, but here is a link in case others want to read up on it. I think this is something all dog owners need to be aware of.

http://www.vet.uga.edu/VPP/CLERK/mordecai/index.php


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## BulldogsNBama (Nov 5, 2010)

Thanks Quailchaser!  Much appreciated.  I'm surprised more folks with hunting dogs have not encountered this, esp in the Northern Georgia and Alabama areas.

This stuff is bad!  I found one site where I was reading about case after case of people losing their dogs to this, and whereas many still believe it to be rare, it is becoming more and more prevalant.  It was often mis-diagnosed or diagnosed much too late for the dogs to receive good treatment.  Even those that do is no guarantee for survival.  There is a pretty high mortality rate regardless.  

I am thankful for info like the above from UGA.  I just wish our universities could work more on this problem and come up with a possible vaccine or at the least, a better treatment plan.  The meds for these fungal conditions are extremely expensive and caustic to the dogs.  Not only that, but the treatment is often prolonged.  Your talking probably thousands of dollars because the meds usually have to be administered for several months.  Then you also have the possibility of reccurance on top of that!   Bad stuff!


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## Bkeepr (Nov 7, 2010)

Wow that was an interesting article, I work in a hospital lab and we see Blasto occasionally, when we do it is a very big deal.

Did the vet do cultures?  That would pinpoint the problem right there.  Of course, I don't know how you collect sputum from a dog!  Tissue biopsy?


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## BulldogsNBama (Nov 8, 2010)

My dog has some skin lesions and she did drain and check the fluid from one of them, but didn't find anything.  They can do a tracheal wash and sometimes find it that way.  She hasn't tried that yet.  They did pull bloodwork though and said everything was fine with it.

From what I've read, it can be hard to diagnose, since it mimicks other things, even cancer.  She put him on antibiotics and I've been giving him 2000mg of Ester C & Vitamin E as well, hoping to keep his immune system strong.  I also have some colloidal silver I could administer with a nebulizer, but I don't have any on hand right at the moment.  I guess I'll have to drag out my machine and make up a batch.  

A couple of things I'd like to point out to folks is that a.  many vets still don't have a lot of experience with this disease and  b.  it's not as common as other diseases, so they might not think to look for it, delaying treatment.  Often the earlier it's diagnosed and treatment begun, the better.  Many dogs that are already very ill are not strong enough to go through the treatment.  Those anti-fungal drugs are caustic anyway.  Then when the meds start killing off the fungus, the dogs body can't cope with the dying off of all the cells and trying to eliminate them from their systems, so it causes a kind of toxic shock.  A lot of them will succumb to that itself.

My dog seems a little better for now and isn't coughing quite as much, so hoping it is just some kind of common respiratory bug.  I just don't want to be wrong about it, because being wrong could cost my dog his life.  May be I'm just paranoid though because I've lost one to this stuff in the past.


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## BulldogsNBama (Nov 8, 2010)

Here's some other good reading on this disease...

By Ben J. Character
Veterinarian
Special to ESPNOutdoors.com

We all know how important our dog's noses are to their (and our) success while afield, but what you may not know is that the nose is the route for acquiring a very deadly fungal infection called blastomycosis.

What is blasto?

Blastomycosis, frequently shortened to simply "blasto," is a fungal disease caused by the organism Blastomyces dermatitides. In nature Blastomyces lives in the soil in the fungal form, but when it is inhaled into the warmer temperature of a body cavity (dog's or man's) it changes into a yeast form. It is this yeast that is so deadly.

The blasto fungus is found in geographical areas that promote moist soil. Deltas, swamps and marshes are common areas, but so are those areas with pothole ponds, nearby rivers, and especially humid climates that promote high soil moisture contents. Specifically the major river valleys of the country (Mississippi, Ohio, etc), Mid-Atlantic States and the Canadian provinces of Quebec, Manitoba, and Ontario, are all considered enzootic for the disease. Of course, the more time spent sniffing around such ground the higher the chance of infection as well.

How blasto effects dog

Blastomycosis is almost always acquired due to inhalation of the spores. Once inside the respiratory passages, the lungs are usually the first organ system to become infected but after this the organism seldom just simply enjoys this success. Next, it may spread to other organ systems including the skin, eyes, bones, lymph nodes, subcutaneous tissues, nose, brain, and testes.

Dogs with blastomycosis usually, but not always have a fever, and/or a cough. These coughs are often dry to begin with, and may have been present for months if not severe enough to concern an owner immediately. Usually involved to some degree, the lymph nodes become enlarged and affected dogs often experience weight loss to the point of emaciation. Involvement in other areas exhibit complementary symptoms.

Diagnosis

The only 100% positive way to diagnose blasto is to find the organism in the body. This can be done by taking needle samples (called "aspirates"), finding it in discharge from the skin or respiratory system, or from biopsies.

Other tests that frequently will suggest a diagnosis include x-rays or blood tests. If there is a current pneumonia, X-rays of the chest will usually show changes of inflammation in the lungs that are frequently described as a "snowstorm" in appearance. Bone x-rays may show bone destruction and repair attempts, as may nasal films.

Although blood tests are available, they are not as good or as accurate as finding the organism. In fact, many dogs with no current infection my test positive because of previous successful immune responses to the organism. On the other hand, many dogs with full-blown infections have negative blood tests specifically because they are not mounting an adequate immune response. The best a blood test can tell you is that the dog has been exposed to blasto and that it is, or has, mounted an immune response to it.

Treatments

Because a blasto is a fungal disease, clinical symptoms do not resolve with routine antibiotic treatment. 

Successful treatment involves using anti-fungal drugs that are sometimes toxic themselves, making blasto treatment a serious decision. Several drugs are available to treat fungal disease like blasto. The most effective, easiest, and most importantly, safest treatment to use is the drug Itraconazole. Although more expensive, this newer drug is much safer than older drugs like ketoconazole or amphotericin-B that were formally used to treat blasto.

When caught early the chance of curing a case of blast is relatively good. However, even the safest choice of treatment is not without potential to actually make the condition worse rather than better. This happens when in the process of killing the organism, the resulting inflammatory response causes too much damage to the organ involved. The most common form of "treatment death" is when an infection in the lung tissues is treated resulting in such a massive pneumonia that the patient dies from respiratory failure. This usually happens during the first week of treatment if it is going to occur.

Long-term effects on performance

For the bird dog hunter or trainer, or other performance dog owner, the long-term implications of a blasto infection should be considered. There aren't many areas that blasto effects that are not detrimental to the performance dog. 

Lung, or nasal involvement may limit aerobic condition to the point that many dogs cannot sustain themselves for more than a half to one hour in the field; not to mention lack of olfaction ability in finding game. 


Bone involvement may result in a persistent low-grade lameness that also limits field time. 


While limited vision can be overcome in common environments and may not be as important as the nose in finding game, it may be the end of that particular dog hunting in unfamiliar territory. 


For the male dog, future breeding will be out of the question since castration is frequently the best option for treating testicular involvement and even if not performed, damage to the testes is likely.

Prevention

Currently, there is no specific prevention for blastomycosis except awareness of the disease in your area and prompt medical attention if clinical signs develop. If you have dog that contracts the disease, remember that your dog picked up the infection from the soil — therefore, your dog, or others in the pack, may be exposed again. 

About Ben Character..  
Dr. Character is a freelance writer and private veterinary practitioner concentrating on sporting dog issues.  He has practiced large and small animal medicine and surgery since graduating from Auburn University. Recently, he went on to complete post-doctoral studies at Mississippi State University. 
Dr. Character is a certified PennHIP member and writes for magazines such as Retriever Journal and Pointing Dog Journal. 
He is an avid outdoorsman who resides in Union, Alabama, south of Tuscaloosa, with his wife and two children.


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## Bkeepr (Nov 9, 2010)

Blasto is not a fussy organism to grow but it can take a while, we hold cultures for 6 weeks before calling them negative.  But if you are just depending on microscopy it might be hard to find.  Amphotericin is nasty, it burns out whatever vein you put it into.  We call it "Amphoterrible".

You mentioned that your dog has skin lesions.  A friend's dog has come down with Pythiosis, another new disease that many vets don't recognize.  They had to send bloodwork to a lab in Texas.
http://www.addl.purdue.edu/newsletters/1999/spring/pythiosis.shtml

I hope that your dog just has a passing little bug and will get better!


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## BulldogsNBama (Nov 9, 2010)

Wow!  Pythiosis is just as bad, if not worse than blasto!  There are other fungal diseases that are all very similar to the blasto as well, such as histoplasmosis, coccidioidomycosis, cryptococcosis just to name a few more.   At least with blasto, there is a chance of survival with long-term care and treatment with the caustic anti-fungals.  

My dogs love to swim in a little shallow pond and fetching sticks out of it is one of their favorite pastimes!!  So far, my dog doesn't have any gastro symptoms, which is good.  His symptoms include skin lesions, lung and eye involvement.  I thought he was getting a little better, but now he seems kind of mopey again.  We go back to the vet in a couple of days. 

Here's a couple of shots of the skin lesions on my dog...

This one is on the back left leg.







This is a couple of places on his neck.  One is a lesion the other is bald looking patch.






This last image is an almost golf-ball sized lump under the skin.


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## Bkeepr (Nov 9, 2010)

I am sending prayers that your poor dog has an easily fixable problem!  The friend's dog had intestinal Pythiosis and had surgery but is now home recovering, then he will get a series of shots to get his immune system to attack any Pythiosis remaining in his body.


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## BulldogsNBama (Nov 11, 2010)

Thank you Bkeepr.  I appreciate your prayers and well wishes.  I hope the same for your friend's dog!  These diseases that are cropping up are so bad these days.. all the super bugs, super fungus and super viral things that are just lurking out there!

I read on one site where a lady up north found blasto up in the trees on her property.  She took samples and sent it off to a lab to have it confirmed.  She tried to get local & state health officials involved, to help warn people, but she said nobody was even interested!  She said the trees that were affected, all had a bluish tint to their trunks, with white cottony looking stuff on some of them, so if anybody ever runs across trees that look like that, you might want to steer clear.  A lot of those affected seemed to be Alder trees.

My dog was a bit friskier this morning, but I'm still very concerned.  If the worse happens, one small bit of comfort is that we are expecting a litter of pups just before Christmas between him and one of our females.  I had decided to breed him and his mate before they both got too old, so I will definitely be keeping a pup or two.


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