What is Tropical Pancytopenia?
Although it was known that dogs could be infected with Ehrlichia, the scope of the illness created became evident during the Viet Nam war as the military German Shepherd Dogs became ill with an infection that seemed to wipe out their blood cells. White blood cells as well as red blood cells were affected and the disease was named tropical canine pancytopenia. This condition was studied and found not to be limited to Southeast Asia but was in fact in the good old U.S.A. as well. In the 1980s it became clear that people could be infected by Ehrlichia, though not the same Ehrlichia as for dogs, and research intensified. German Shepherd Dogs are said to get a particularly severe form of Ehrlichia infection. What Ticks are Involved with Ehrlichia? Different Ehrlichia species are spread by different types of ticks. (What ticks are located in a particular area limits what types of Ehrlichia infections are seen regionally.) The Brown Dog Tick (Rhipicephalus sanguineus) usually spreads Ehrlichi
