Prevalence of dog erythrocyte antigen 1.1 in galgos (Spanish greyhounds)

Dog erythrocyte antigen (DEA) 1.1 is the most clinically important blood group in dogs, as negative recipients for this group may develop a life-threatening acute haemolytic transfusion reaction if they receive several DEA 1.1 positive blood transfusions. Due to their physical features, galgos are frequently used as blood donors in clinical practice, however, there are no published data regarding the prevalence of DEA 1.1 in this breed. Expression of DEA 1.1 was determined in 118 galgos and 88 dogs of other breeds being screened as potential blood donors, using an immunochromatographic cartridge typing kit (Quick Test DEA 1.1, Alvedia, Lyon, France). Of the total dogs, 53.4per cent (110/206) were positive for DEA 1.1. The prevalence of DEA 1.1 positive blood among our population of galgos and other-breed dogs were 51.7 per cent (61/118) and 55.7 per cent (49/88), respectively. Potential risk of sensitisation in a recipient of other breed following non-typed blood transfusion using blood from galgos was 22.9 per cent. Due to the clinical significance of DEA 1.1 and the high prevalence of this blood group in galgos of Spain, we strongly recommend blood-typing for this group before administering any blood transfusion using galgos as donors, as with transfusions from other commonly used breeds.