Necropsy Findings and Histopathological Changes in Dogs with Conjunct Experimental Trypanosoma congolense and Ancylostoma caninum Infections

Trypanosoma congolense and Ancylostoma caninum are parasitic diseases of dogs which commonly occur in the south-eastern part of Nigeria. There appear to be dearth of information on the histopathological changes in dogs with mixed infections of both parasites which necessitated the study. There were marked necropsy and histopathological changes in the vital organs of 4 dogs experimentally infected with both Ancylostoma caninum (A. caninum) and Trypanosoma congolense (T. congolense). Trypanosomacongolense was inoculated post establishment of A. caninum infection in the dogs. The prepatent period of T. congolense was 10±2.0 days and 14±1.2 days in A. caninum. The disease ran a course of 45 days before death. Necropsy findings include, haemorrhages in the stomach mucosa, splenomegally, enlargement of the heart, congested and emphysematous lungs, congested and necrotic areas on the liver and normal kidneys. The histopathological changes were classified as degenerative, emphysematous, infiltrations of immune complexes and anaemia. The gross morphology of organs at necropsy may not reveal the degree of histopathological changes. The study however reveals extensive histopathological changes in vital organs of dogs with mixed infections of T. congolense and A. caninum.