Moving to Australia and dog failed Ehrlichia canis test (infections, testing, keep)

[eimmas]

Hi,

I know this thread is quite old but hoping I can get some recent updates.

Planning to relocate back to Australia from Singapore. We have adopted a dog during our time here and want to bring her back with us, but have just found out the devastating news that she has Ehrlichia Canis.

Just wondering if they do the Ehrlichia Canis on the other side, at Australian quarantine?

For example, what if I happen to get a negative result and they ship my dog over - will they check again when she lands in Australia?

[Mindandbodypt]

Hi,
We are now in a similar position with our dog testing positive Ehrchilia 4 weeks prior to our departure, at 1:640.
Has anyone had luck with getting a different test result (besides Four Legged Friends) please?
Desperate & devastated...

Thank you..

Originally Posted by eimmas

Hi,

I know this thread is quite old but hoping I can get some recent updates.

Planning to relocate back to Australia from Singapore. We have adopted a dog during our time here and want to bring her back with us, but have just found out the devastating news that she has Ehrlichia Canis.

Just wondering if they do the Ehrlichia Canis on the other side, at Australian quarantine?

For example, what if I happen to get a negative result and they ship my dog over - will they check again when she lands in Australia?

[greyshome]

Hi

Can anyone give an idea of treatment required to lower the reading and what followup is required? Also, what sort of costs?

My dog has tested + 1:80 just 4 weeks prior to flying. Why is it left so late?

[greyshome]

This is a copy of the email I received from Dept of Agriculture when I submitted a copy of the blood test.



I regret to advise that unless this dog returns a negative result at 1:40 for E. canis using an IFA test then he/she is not eligible for import to Australia. As you will be aware, all dogs imported to Australia must meet the conditions for Ehrlichia canis as detailed in the import permit. This includes a requirement for the dog to test negative for Ehrlichia canis at a dilution of 1:40 using an indirect fluorescent antibody test (IFAT), on a blood sample collected within 45 days before export and at least 21 days after a compliant external parasite treatment has been applied.

E. canis is exotic to Australia and is extremely difficult to treat as the bacteria has a remarkable ability to hide itself inside the animal’s organs (e.g. the liver and the spleen) and avoid any antibiotics administered. We have also seen cases where animals have undergone 18 months treatment with antibiotics and tested positive at a higher level than they did initially which demonstrates the bacteria’s resistance to antibiotics. As Australia has ticks which act as vectors for the bacteria, even clinically healthy ‘carrier’ animals pose a significant biosecurity risk.

From here, noting that we will only accept an IFA test, you should seek the assistance of a veterinarian with a specialty registration in canine internal medicine who can provide you with their assessment of the dog’s condition and the likelihood that he/she may return a compliant titre level that would make him/her eligible for import to Australia at some time in the future. We cannot provide specific veterinary advice for the dog, so you will need to discuss treatment options with the dog’s veterinarian. Please be aware that antibodies to Ehrlichia canis can persist for a prolonged period of time, and there is no guarantee the dog will return a negative IFA test result after treatment. You will be able to test at any frequency you choose in the hope of obtaining a negative test result, and I suggest you discuss appropriate testing intervals with the veterinarian. If the dog returns a negative result on an IFAT at 1:40 and can meet all other import conditions, he/she will become eligible for import to Australia.

[R4ndy84]

We are in the same situation as many of you. We moved to Australia from the UK in Sept 18 and our dog was supposed to follow in November, however he tested positive to E-Canis.
We retested again to be sure it wasn’t a false positive but sadly it wasn’t. We put him on a 30 day course of antibiotics and tested again with no luck. We have waited 6 months and just got the results today that he is still testing positive. We are absolutely heartbroken! We are very lucky that he is staying with a friend and being very well looked after but this wasn’t the plan & we wouldn’t have moved here if we had known he wouldn’t be able to come .

[Subpri30]

i know this is a quite old thread.
But did you had any luck in bringing your pet to Australia.
We are also at the same situation where our pet is stuck at Malaysia for more than a year now and is being tested positve for the E-Canis.
Did you find any other way or solution to this issue.
any response would be appreciated.

[JPC Aust]

Hi Subpri30
Unfortunately, no. We treated our mini poodle for 14 months with doxycycline, liver support and vitamins, her levels dropped in one IFAT test after 9 months, then went up again when tested at 14 months.

We were in NZ at the time, moving there from Penang, to live while we treated her, but needed to come home to Australia.

We were so unbelievably fortunate to meet a lady who fostered her and continued to treat her for 4 months, then after the 14month check, we made the agonizing decision to agree to adoption by the foster Mum. We are now in the pet relocation business, and have a policy of E.canis testing by prospective clients prior to agreeing to help with moving a dog to Australia.

During our hunt for information, I spoke to the Head Vet at Protatek Laboratory in the US. In her years, she had known of 1 success, but it was after 4 years of treatment. Long term treatment with doxycycline can be harmful to the dogs liver.

There may be more successes, but I don't know of any, or heard of any beyond the one above, anecdotally. Sorry to be the bearer of such negative news for you, but I am being open and honest.

[Subpri30]

Thanks JPC Aust for sharing your experience,
and it is very sad that you were unsuccessful in brining your pet to Australia.
We have also tried to treat our pet with doxycycline for around a year but it seems it started to affect his liver which is why we have asked to stop the meds now.
just hoping for a miracle to happen where we get his results as Negative for E-Canis.

[NicnHarv]

Thanks everyone for their messages and advice. I forgot about this post after we successfully got our dog to Australia. We ended up sending a blood sample to a German lab from the U.K. this came back clean. ie. no trace of ehrlichia. We tried to use that sample but UK authorities would not recognise EU lab even though this lab was approved by Oz authorities. We had to get am export permit fromGermany so we moved our dog to a kennel in Germany. By this time the test result was outside the time allowed for each sample for the import to occur so we had more samples taken which fluctuated but after 4 months we got a sample within the range and were eventually reunited with our beautiful girl. It was a harrowing experience but persistence pays off (eventually):

As a footnote, it is now acknowledged by the WA agricultural authorities that ehrlichia is in northern Australia as I have seen the posters put up in northern towns. So if anyone else has trouble they might want to use this as an appeal process to the Authorities

[JPC Aust]

Hi NicnHarv

Thanks for telling us your story.
I would be very interested in knowing how you were treating Your Girl.
We were treating our little girl (mini poodle) for 14 months with doxycycline, liver support and vitamins and eventually, due to the Vet warning about possible liver damage we decided to stop medication. We fought hard, but did not succeed.

Our girl is now adopted to a wonderful couple in NZ.

Look forward to hearing from you.
JPC