Staphylococcus, a form of bacteria, is commonly found on the skin of dogs. When your dog scratches its skin, staph bacteria invade the irritated skin. If the staph spreads as an infection, it forms a crusty round circle like ringworm rash.
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Features
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Both ringworm fungi and staph bacteria cause infected skin lesions and rash circles.
Identification
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Your dog would be first tested with a skin culture or biopsy. If the ringworm-type rash is not caused by ringworm, lab tests typically identify the cause as staph infection.
Solution
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Oral antibiotics control staph bacteria inside the body. Medicated shampoos treat skin staph infections causing the ringworm-type rash.
Considerations
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According to veterinarian Carlo Vitale, staph infections are the number one recurring dermatology problem. Staph is controlled, but it comes back with the ringworm-type rash.
Expert Insight
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Veterinarian Carlo Vitale suggests recurring staph rashes may respond to regular medicated baths, long-term antibiotics or staphage lysate injections. The injections help your dog boost staph immunity.
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