Animal Kingdom and Blood Types

The Rhesus positive also prevails in the animal kingdom as I found out during my research.




Blood types

Blood types (or groups) are determined by specific antigens found on the surface of erythrocytes. In humans, there is the ABO system of blood types, whereas animals have a variety of different blood types. Knowledge of blood types in the different species is important as transfusion of incompatible blood (the donor animal has a different blood type from the recipient animal) can result in severe haemolytic transfusion reactions and even death, in some instances. 

There are two types of antibodies to blood group antigens; naturally occurring antibodies and antibodies acquired after exposure to the blood group antigen. Naturally occurring antibodies occur in most species and vary in their pathological significance, i.e. some will not produce a transfusion reaction. Acquired antibodies are produced after exposure to an incompatible blood type, which is from exposure to blood or products containing erythrocytes or their antigens. The most common route of exposure is from previous blood transfusions, however there are less obvious sources of exposure, such as vaccinations that contain foreign red blood cell antigens. Antibodies that are pathogenic (i.e. induce a haemolytic reaction) can cause agglutination and/or haemolysis of red cells.

Blood typing (for the most common blood groups) is offered by a few specialised veterinary diagnostic laboratories (e.g. the Comparative Coagulation Laboratory at Cornell University, the Equine Blood Testing Laboratory in Kentucky, the Stormont Laboratory in California). Ideally, any animal that is routinely used as a blood donor should be blood typed for the most common antigens that produce a haemolytic reaction and (ideally) should be negative for these antigens. Blood type compatibility (or incompatibility) is determined in the laboratory using crossmatching procedures. Since administration of typed negative blood will not prevent a transfusion reaction to less well-characterised red cell antigens, crossmatching should always be performed in an individual that has been previously exposed to blood group antigens.

Other species, not just humans, use + and - when considering blood types and transfusion.

When a dog's blood is tested, they are looking for something called "Dog Erythrocyte Antigens" or DEA. They then go further to test whether a dog is dea 1.1 positive, which would make that dog a universal recipient like a human with AB+ blood (they are universal recipients), vs a DEA 1.1- dog who are universal donors (like O- humans). Just like in humans, giving + blood to a - patient can be deadly, so you tell whomever that this is true.





The prevalence of blood group type DEA1 in canines found in the Brazilian Journal of Veterinary Research and Animal Science.

http://www.scielo.br/scielo.php?pid=S1413-95961999000100004&script=sci_arttext

Other animals have blood factors similar to the human Rh blood factor, so some of the individuals of these species would be Rh negative. Also, other animals do not have an Rh factor in their blood, so the entire species would be Rh negative. 

For other animals please check here:

Canine, Feline, Equine and other blood types