• Ehrlichia equi, a causal agent of granulocytic ehrlichiosis, has been renamed Anaplasma phagocytophila.
• Ehrlichia platys has been renamed Anaplasma platys.
• Hemobartonella felis, the causative agent of feline infectious anemia (FIA), has recently been reclassified as two separate species of Mycoplasma. The large form, Mycoplasma hemofelis is more pathogenic than the small form Mycoplasma hemominutum. Evaluation of the blood smear is an insensitive method of diagnosing FIA. In contrast, Antech's PCR method will detect both forms of these Mycoplasma species and can distinguish between them.

To evaluate the effectiveness of Bartonella therapy, especially for healthy cats, titration of the pre-treatment antibody level in comparison to the six-month post-treatment antibody level is recommended. A 2-fold or greater decrease in the Bartonella antibody titer is indicative of successful treatment of infection. It is necessary to wait 6 months from the end of therapy to wait for antibody levels to decline, subsequent to treatment.

When requesting the 6-month recheck on a patient, be sure to write “RECHECK” (Test Code S16890) on the Test Request Form, so that Antech can alert Dr. Hardy's reference lab to compare antibody levels to those of the pre-treatment archived serum.