Canine Immunology Study
We are studying dog immune responses to Valley Fever infection. The study has previously focused on dogs with severe disease and dogs that have antibody titers but no history of being sick. We would now like to study dogs with early stages of primary respiratory valley fever as well. These are dogs with symptoms of coughing, weight loss, fever, lack of appetite and lack of energy that have been diagnosed by a veterinarian less than 2 months ago.To be eligible for enrollment, the dog needs to have had at least one set of lung x-rays, a blood test positive for Valley Fever, and serum chemistries and a CBC. He/she also needs to weigh at least 10 lbs because we will draw about a tablespoon (10-12 mls) of blood
If you are interested in participating in this study, please call or email:
Dr. Christine Butkiewicz 520-626-6527 cbutkiew@email.arizona.edu or Dr. Lisa Shubitz 520-626-8198 Lfshubit@email.arizona.edu
The Immune System Response to Valley Fever in Dogs
With generous funding from the American Kennel Club’s Canine Health Foundation, we are collecting blood samples from community owned dogs. Samples collected from dogs outside of the endemic region will be used as a “baseline” for our assay, as these dogs should have no immune response to the fungus.
Study Details
Asymptomatic Dogs Valley Fever Immune Response Study
This study is open to healthy dogs that have never been diagnosed with or treated for Valley Fever. Dogs will have a small amount of blood drawn and we will screen it for antibodies with a sensitive test, an enzyme immunoassay (EIA), at the University of Arizona
More Information on this Study
Valley Fever Vaccine
Work on an effective vaccine for the prevention of Valley Fever in dogs has been ongoing for decades. Currently, we have a vaccine candidate that shows excellent efficacy in mice. We are proceeding through the steps of working with regulatory agencies in order to bring this vaccine to market for our canine patients, and then, ultimately, to humans residing in endemic regions.
Vaccine Update- Sept. 2019