Passing this on from another list........... The disease is called Chagas and is caused by a tripanosine (parasite) which has been seen in San Antonio as far back as 11 years ago. The first known outbreak in our city was among skipperke and husky kennels, and then in the macques (monkeys) at Brooks Air Force Base. The most recent outbreak occurred last october when it infected the papillon kennel. Chagas has been reported in Louisanna and Virginia also. It is spread by either the bite from or ingestion (eating) of an insect often called "kissing bugs". There are pictures of this bug on two of the websites below.
There is no cure and it mimics sudden onset of heart failure in puppies, but also occurs in adult dogs and is epidemic in humans in South and Central America. It is usually fatal in puppies and older dogs and leaves those survivors with severe heart and kidney problems. It is so little known that vets must be encouraged to test for Chagas whenever they have made a diagnosis of sudden onset heart failure. Most of the time, vets label the symptoms as congestive heart failure. If you live in an area where you might be affected, as for the vet to test for Chagas. In Texas it is now a reportable disease. http://www.vetmed.wisc.edu/pbs/zoonoses/Leishtryp/Chagindx.html http://www.tdh.state.tx.us/zoonosis/diseases/CHAGAS/chagas.asp http://dallas.tamu.edu/insects/Ent-1018.html ========================================================= "Magic Commands": to stop receiving mail for awhile, click here and send the email: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]?body=SET%20CKCS-L%20NOMAIL to start it up gain click here: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]?body=SET%20CKCS-L%20MAIL E-mail [EMAIL PROTECTED] for assistance. Search the Archives... http://apple.ease.lsoft.com/archives/ckcs-l.html All e-mail sent through CKCS-L is Copyright 2002 by its original author.
