The core panel for canine vector-borne disease screening is determined by your geographic region, but the organisms most consistently warranting routine testing across North America and Europe are Dirofilaria immitis, Ehrlichia canis/E. ewingii, Anaplasma phagocytophilum/A. platys, and Borrelia burgdorferi — all detectable with a single commercial point-of-care test (SNAP 4Dx Plus).AAHA Clinical G…+2

Geographic prevalence drives which pathogens to prioritize. In the southeastern United States, D. immitis antigen positivity runs 2.6% and Ehrlichia spp. antibody positivity runs 5.2% — the highest rates in the country for those two pathogens.Parasites and V… Ehrlichia spp. positivity in the Southeast increased fourfold between earlier surveys and 2013–2019 (from 1.3% to 5.2%), driven in part by expanded detection of E. ewingii and expansion of vector tick populations.Parasites and V… In the northeastern United States, B. burgdorferi antibody positivity reaches 12.1% and Anaplasma spp. 7.3%, with state-level seroprevalence for B. burgdorferi exceeding 5% in Connecticut (15.5%), Massachusetts, Vermont, Maine, Pennsylvania, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, New York, New Jersey, West Virginia, Minnesota, Virginia, Maryland, Delaware, Wisconsin, and the District of Columbia.AAHA Clinical G…+1 In south-central Texas specifically, D. immitis seroprevalence averaged 11.7%, Ehrlichia spp. 8.4%, Anaplasma spp. 4.3%, and B. burgdorferi 0.2% over a six-year period.BMC Veterinary…

Lyme nephritis is the most consequential outcome of B. burgdorferi infection and warrants screening even in dogs with low individual risk in endemic areas. Only ≤10% of infected dogs develop polyarthritis, but an estimated 1–5% develop protein-losing nephropathy, which is often fatal despite antimicrobial therapy.AAHA Clinical G… Retriever breeds carry a suggested predisposition to Lyme nephritis.AAHA Clinical G… Any proteinuric dog in an endemic region should have B. burgdorferi serology included in the workup — in one endemic-region cohort, 35% of proteinuric dogs tested positive for at least one vector-borne pathogen.Veterinary Scie…

In southern California and other areas with Babesia and Bartonella activity, serology alone is insufficient. Evidence of vector-borne pathogen exposure or infection was detected in 33% of southern California dogs presenting with immune-mediated disease signs, with Ehrlichia and Babesia spp. each identified most frequently.Journal of Vete… Convalescent serologic testing, sequential PCR, and use of novel PCR gene targets increased detection by 30% over acute testing alone.Journal of Vete… Combined serology and PCR panels are recommended at initial presentation for dogs with clinical or hematological findings consistent with immune-mediated disease.Veterinary Clin…

In Europe, Leishmania infantum must be added to the panel in endemic regions. In Lisbon, Portugal, 89% of vector-borne disease-positive proteinuric dogs were seropositive for L. infantum, and 35% of all proteinuric dogs tested positive for at least one vector-borne pathogen.Veterinary Scie… In northern Spain, overall seroprevalence across pathogens was 11.33%, with L. infantum at 8.99% — the only pathogen detected in all regions surveyed.Parasites and V… In Bucharest, Romania, D. immitis prevalence reached 12.62%, Ehrlichia spp. 4.73%, and Anaplasma spp. 4.42%, with Ehrlichia spp. seroprevalence peaking at 8.33% in 2022.Veterinary Medi…

Trypanosoma cruzi (Chagas disease) is an emerging consideration in the southern United States and should be added to the differential in dogs from Texas and surrounding states with compatible cardiac or systemic signs, given robust sylvatic transmission cycles in that region.Journal of Vete…

Canine seroprevalence mirrors human infection risk — state-level positive rates for B. burgdorferi, Ehrlichia spp., and Anaplasma spp. in dogs correlate with annual human case reports for the same pathogens, making routine dog screening a meaningful zoonotic sentinel function.Parasites and V…

Would you like guidance on how to interpret a positive SNAP 4Dx result — specifically when to follow up with PCR versus convalescent serology?