Field Application of Haematological Monitoring in Tracking Treatment Response in Canine Ehrlichiosis in Abuja, Federal Capital Territory

Canine ehrlichiosis caused by Ehrlichia canis is a tick-borne disease of significant clinical importance in urban Nigerian dog populations. This study applied serial haematological monitoring to track treatment responses in dogs diagnosed with ehrlichiosis at a veterinary clinic in Abuja, Federal Capital Territory. Forty dogs with confirmed ehrlichiosis by PCR and thirty healthy controls were enrolled. All confirmed cases were treated with doxycycline at 10 mg/kg once daily for twenty-eight days. Complete blood count was performed at the time of diagnosis and at days seven, fourteen, twenty-one, and twenty-eight of treatment. Thrombocytopaenia was the hallmark haematological finding at presentation, with mean platelet counts of 42 multiplied by 10 to the power of nine per litre. Anaemia was present in twenty-seven of forty cases and leucopaenia in eighteen. Platelet counts showed significant progressive recovery from day fourteen onwards, reaching near-normal levels in thirty-one of forty dogs by day twenty-eight. Haemoglobin and packed cell volume improved in parallel, with complete normalisation in twenty-three of twenty-seven initially anaemic dogs. Dogs that remained thrombocytopaenic at day twenty-one had a higher rate of relapse within ninety days. This study validates serial platelet count monitoring as the most sensitive haematological parameter for assessing treatment response in canine ehrlichiosis and recommends its integration into post-treatment follow-up protocols. Keywords: canine ehrlichiosis, haematology, thrombocytopaenia, doxycycline, treatment monitoring.