My dog has B. gibsoni but is healthy. Will he ever test negative?

Many dogs will remain positive. Some others don't remain positive. Every dog is different. A dog is a living organism, not a machine. Every dog will be different. That is all I can tell you. We do not know why this is happening. It just is that way. Here is excellent information on this disease. Under "Treatment" you can read about "B. gibsoni infection: In most cases, the parasites are not totally eliminated.". http://www.vetfolio.com/infectious-disease/babesia-gibsoni-an-emerging-pathogen-in-dogs This is basically all the information we have and is known. Here is another article: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0304401718301018

" In many cases, treatment is frustrating, low levels of parasites remain, and a chronic subclinical carrier state develops." This means that many cases never become negative, that they will stay positive for b. gibsoni and become a carrier without symptoms of disease.

Thank you for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach! Itis good that Bruno is feeling better. Babesia gibsoni can be very hard to completely clear and is an infection that can remain in hiding/dormant with no outward clinical signs. Therapy with variety of different medications has been tried with varying success. Months (2-3) of therapy is often needed. It is important that control of the vector (ticks) be a priority in preventing reinfection if the current infection is cleared.

Your dog has a blood parasite transmitted by ticks, ie Babesiosis. Up to now, no single drug has effectively and consistently eliminated B. gibsoni from infected dogs and the side effects, as well as availability, of some of the medications limit their use. Here is information on B.gibsoni infection. You may want to discuss with your veterinarian, whwther he wants to proceed with treatment or just use supportive treatment. There is no virus involved. http://www.vetfolio.com/infectious-disease/babesia-gibsoni-an-emerging-pathogen-in-dogs

Well it looks like he is making platelets again which is good, however B. gibsoni also attacks red blood cells so it is important to have him also checked for a red blood cell count. Since you are in contact with a veterinarian and are having blood tests done, listen to your veterinarian's recommendation on when to do follow up blood tests.

If Buddy was already treated for me canines and is clinically normal right now I would not worry about a positive test result. You can discuss with his vet but many tests are for antibodies to the disease. Which will still be circulating in the blood from the initial infection. It does not necessarily mean there is an active infection at this time.

Hi there and thank you for using pet coach to address your concern. Generally I will treat for 4-6 weeks with Doxycycline and then send out an anaplasmosis PCR to see if the patient is still positive. The test used in most vet clinics is a simple snap test that detects circulating antibodies to the anaplasma. It is likely that Molly will be positive on this snap test for years to come. This does not mean she is actively infected, just that she has had previous exposure to the infection. If you want to confirm she is negative after treatment, then a PCR test would be the test to run. Generally after successful treatment, I do not see any health complications. No annual testing is needed but a PCR might be something to consider running for the first 12 months every 6 months after treatment. I hope this helps guide you in the right direction. Please let me know if you have any other questions or concerns. I am also available via consultation if needed.