Epizootiological monitoring and the clinical manifestation of canine chlamydiosis
Authors: Bisyuk V. V. 
Published: December 2024

Canine chlamydiosis can manifest as an asymptomatic infection or as a serious disease. The most common cause of chlamydia in dogs is psittaci. These pathogens have the potential to cause disease in pet owners. A review of scientific studies on the epidemiology of chlamydia in dogs from various countries reveals a wide range of clinical manifestations, age groups, and breeds susceptible to this disease. This study aimed to examine the distribution of chlamydia in dogs across different countries and to identify the clinical and epidemiological features of chlamydiosis in dogs in the Irpin City State Hospital of Veterinary Medicine's service area. In order to study the distribution and epizootic situation regarding canine chlamydiosis in countries around the world, a variety of sources were consulted, including the MDPI Open Access Journals website, Google Scholar, the Croatian scientific and technical journal portal Hrčak, the scientific portal ResearchGate, and the international journal Sciencedirect. An analysis of the epizootological features and clinical manifestations of chlamydiosis in 166 dogs was conducted using the logs of outpatient admission of animals for 2022 and 2023. Concurrently, the diagnosis was confirmed through polymerase chain reaction (PCR) analysis in a certified laboratory in Balt, Kyiv. The findings revealed that chlamydia is present in 11.7% of the sampled dogs. Concurrently, other prevalent conditions include parainfluenza (cabin cough), which accounts for 20.8% of cases, diarrhea of various etiologies (22%), and parovoviral enteritis (17.5%). The analysis of sexual resistance to chlamydiosis demonstrated that males exhibited a lower prevalence of chlamydial infection than females. Over the past two years, the mean prevalence of chlamydia has been 13.4% higher in females than in males. A statistical analysis of the disease in 15 breeds of 85 dogs revealed that the following breeds exhibited a higher prevalence of disease: purebreds (15 heads, 17.6%), Staffordshire terriers (9 heads, 10.6%), and German shepherds (8 heads, 9.4%). The study of seasonality demonstrated that the disease reached its highest prevalence in the fall (November) and winter (February), with the majority of cases occurring in March during the spring. The majority of cases are diagnosed between December and April. The study of the clinical manifestations of the disease revealed that chlamydiosis can manifest in five distinct forms: arthritic, intestinal, genital, respiratory, and keratoconjunctival. The arthritic and keratoconjunctival forms of the disease are most frequently documented. These forms of the disease constitute over 50% of the clinical manifestation of the disease, with arthritic forms accounting for 34.1% and keratoconjunctival forms accounting for 23.5% of the total number. The age group most frequently affected by chlamydia was that of dogs between 9 months and 3 years old, comprising 57% of the total number of animals. The mean arithmetic indicators of the experimental groups of animals demonstrated that 20.09% of animals under one year of age were affected, while 63.76% of animals between one and four years of age, and 16.16% of animals aged four years and older exhibited signs of disease