Biliary Fever or Babesiosis

By Lucy Wessels
Babesiosis is a blood-parasite transmitted by carrier ticks. The Babesia spp. divides in the red blood cells of the host animal. They then rupture the cell and are freed into the blood stream. Each of the organisms then invades a new red blood cell and the division process starts again.

Clinical signs develop in about ten days from innoculation by bites from infected carrier ticks. Once a female tick bites an infected animal the offspring of that tick remain permanently infective.

Characteristic clinical signs of babesiosis are pyrexia, inappetance, listlessness and anaemia. Affected animals also show haematuria and nausea. Untreated dogs show jaundice and hypothermia followed by death in no more than 3 days from the first sight of illness or two weeks from innoculation by infected tick bites. Younger dogs may only survive for a few hours after showing symptoms.

Management measures of the ailment include: awareness of dogs' habits, giving dogs a teaspoon of bicarbonate of soda per litre of drinking water; keeping dogs quiet after the infection; avoiding feeding dogs fatty foods for at least a week. they could instead be given skim milk and lean meat; if afected dogs fail to improve after a day of treatment, they should be taken to the vet for further treatment; dogs should be watched for re-infection for at least a month. and; dogs should be treated for ticks and fleas regularly.