Systemic canine protothecosis: a case report.

Abstract

Protothecosis is a rare disease caused by achlorophyllic algae of the genus Prototheca. This case involved a 5 year-old intact female Cocker Spanil, with a history of mild and persistent diarrhea that was not reponsive to treatment.Clinical signs progressed to watery and bloody diarrhea followed by developmemt of ocular signs,including complete and bilateral retinal displacement,glacoma,synechia,and blindness.At necropsy,lesions in the heart,pancreas,kidneys,and thyroid gland.Microscopically,the nodular lesions were characterized by a chronic histiocytic inflammatory inflitrate associated with a severe accumulation of organisms with morphology and histochemical features compatible with Prototheca sp.