Malaria is a deadly pandemic in most African countries; the number of malaria cases reported every day in my country is no joke. In fact, malaria has been reported as one of the major health problems we have in this country.
The thing for me is, if it can affect humans this much, then it is going to affect animals too. Interestingly, some updated research shows that dogs were able to sniff out plasmodium in children.
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It is expected that children who are affected with plasmodium will be down with fever; at least that's a sign to first look out for, but that's not always the case. For children who had the condition and didn't show signs of fever, these dogs helped out.
People who have malaria are believed to produce specific aldehydes from their skin; these aldehydes are used by mosquitoes to feed on their host (those who have been infested with malaria).
I actually sense, where these things can work in cases of people who are trying to prevent malaria from getting into their country, according to what I read in an article.
A real-life situation for the writer is when they are placed at the entry to the port, once there is an indication of a malaria patient detected by the dog, then a blood test will be carried out to ascertain what the dog has figured out.
In the presence of malaria, free treatment will be offered to such a person. Anyways, there are arguments about the need for the first-level sniffing by the dog, some people argue that the laboratory test should be done straight away.
But another thing to consider is the time that will be required for tests to be carried out on everyone traveling. I believe it's going to be an easier process for the dog to sniff, and anyone who is not infested could go easily while basic procedures are done on those affected.
My own question, however, is how a dog who is also affected by malaria be able to sniff malaria from another person.
That's why I said I don't think this dog-sniffing malaria thing can work in my sweet country, Nigeria (haha). But let's see how our canine friends get affected or disturbed by the presence of malaria.
Canine malaria is caused by a single-cell parasite called Babesia. Unlike how the transmission works in humans, where it is transmitted through mosquito bites, it is transmitted by ticks in this case.
Mosquito bites also have their effect on pets, but we will go into that later. For now, let's focus on the malaria thing.
The parasite once it affects a dog begins to destroy red blood cells, creating high fever and serious anemia, as the health of the dog actively declines.
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This Babesia canis, which is the parasite responsible for malaria in pets, has no effect on humans. However, this is not to say tick bite is a good thing, it can also have a strong negative effect on the human it bites.
The strain of the pathogen will determine if we will have a case of acute which is sudden or chronic , which is a long-term duration of the disease. The acute type however happens to be more common than the chronic type.
The most common associated symptoms are
Lack of appetite.
Fluid retention.
Jaundice.
Bloody urine.
Fever and breathing difficulty.
If the disease now spreads to the central nervous system, paralysis and movement disorders may accompany existing symptoms.
In this situation, the affected canine may begin to suffer from kidney failure or epileptic seizures, which eventually lead to death.
There are medications used for the treatment of canine malaria but this alone doesn't always cut it, other supportive measures are usually administered too. The supportive measures may be through infusion and even blood transfusion in some cases.
If malaria is recognized on time, it is possible for treatment to happen. However, it can also be carried for life in some dogs therefore creating cases of relapses.
The number of dogs that have survived malaria has been discovered to be less than those who didn't survive. So, a regular routine check for the presence of ticks on your pet is highly crucial.
In my next post, I will be talking about the effect of mosquito bites on pets. If they are not causing malaria, could they be causing something else, or are they totally harmless?
These are questions I will be answering in my next post through the guide of published articles by intelligent authors. Thank you for reading, commenting, and supporting through votes.