Systemic infections caused by Mycobacterium avium complex are considered rare in dogs. In dogs and cats, the infection comes from eating meat or being in contact with contaminated soil or fomites. Clinical manifestations of dogs infected with M. avium tend to be vague or absent, so the diagnosis "in vivo" becomes difficult. Systemic mycobacterial infection was suspected in this report, after the identification of acid-alcohol resistant bacilli in a bone marrow sample which was identified as Mycobacterium avium by the molecular method Polymerase Chain Reaction - PCR Restriction Analysis (PCR-PRA). This animal had a bone marrow aplasia due to Erhlichia canis corroborating with most reports in the literature that associate this infection with immunosuppressed patients.
Mycobacterium avium; infection; dog
