Capillary refill time, bleeding time, clotting time, erythrocyte sedimentation rate and prothrombin time in natural cases of canine Trypanosoma congolense infection

Trypanosomiasis of man and his domestic animals continues to pose enormous public health and economic problems in many parts of Africa and South America. Thirty-one dogs were used for this study. 23 of the dogs were apparently healthy while eight were confirmed to be suffering from Trypanosoma congolense. Confirmation of trypanosomiasis was done by wet mount and by the use of Dip Quick™ stain. Capillary refill time, bleeding time, clotting time, erythrocyte sedimentation rate and prothrombin time were determined. The mean values for the apparently healthy dogs were 1.32 s (seconds), 3.34 min (minutes), 4.71 min, 3.85 mm/h (millimetres/hours) and 24.1 s, respectively for capillary refill time, bleeding time, clotting time, erythrocyte sedimentation rate and prothrombin time, respectively, while in cases of T.congolense, 2.75 s, 5.49 min, 8.17 min, 9.63 mm/h and 45 s, respectively. There was significant (P < 0.05) increase in capillary refill time, bleeding time, clotting time, erythrocyte sedimentation rate and prothrombin time in dogs naturally infected by T.congolense. The tests or parameters evaluated in this work, though not of diagnostic value, can help in the screening and monitoring of canine trypanosomiasis.