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(thought to be eradicated in Australia)
Haemolytic Anaemia at one time was considered a major threat to the breed but today is rarely seen. This is a real triumph for the breeders who worked so hard to eliminate the disease.
HA is a condition in which the red blood cells are destroyed more rapidly than normal. This genetically transmitted disease is caused by a partial lack of a very important enzyme in the red blood cells called Pyruvate Kinase (PK for short). A similar anaemia (due to PK deficiency) has been known to occur in man.
Symptoms for the dogs begin very early and owners notice that the affected animals tire easily and sleep a great deal. Most succumb when approximately two years of age.
In the early 1970's, much research into this disease proved that PK deficiency in the Basenji was due to a recessive gene. This means that Basenjis could be divided into three categories:
- Those clear of the disease (a dog which has 2 genes for normal PK activity).
- A carrier (a dog which has one gene for normal PK activity and one gene of PK deficiency). This is a healthy animal which will not have HA, which should have normal behaviour and activity, and a normal lifespan.
- An affected dog (a dog which carried 2 genes for PK deficiency). The extensive research done in the '70's led to sensitive testing that could distinguish between the clear, carrier, and affected animals.
Through discriminate breeding practices, avoiding mating a carrier to a carrier, and continued testing over several generations, HA has been drastically reduced. Fortunately, there has not been a case of HA reported in Australia for many years.
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