2015 ACVIM Forum Research Abstract Program

A total of eight young adult, mixed sex, laboratory-reared research dogs were used with IACUC approval. The dogs were shown to be negative for antibodies against AP and BB using a commercially available kit (SNAP Ã’ 4Dx Ã’ , IDEXX Laboratories). Dogs were infected by exposure to wild-caught Ixodes scapularis for 1 week. Blood was collected from all dogs prior to tick attachment and then on weeks 1-11 and weeks 31-43 after tick attachment. Blood was assayed for AP DNA by PCR. Sera was separated from clotted blood and assessed for AP and BB antibodies by a multi-analyte, research SNAP (SNAP MA), AP IFA, AP peptide quantitative ELISAs, C6 quantitative ELISA (Quant C6, IDEXX Laboratories) and the commercial kit. On week 31, doxycycline was administered at 10 m/kg, PO, daily for 28 days. Paired t-tests were used to assess changes in optical density on SNAP MA as an approximation of antibody levels.