Canine Herpesvirus
Dogs
Canine Herpesvirus
Canine herpesvirus (CHV) is a virus of the family
Herpesviridae which most importantly causes a fatal
hemorrhagic disease in
puppies less
than two to three weeks old. The
incubation period is three to six days. Symptoms include crying,
weakness, depression, discharge from the nose, soft, yellow
feces,
and a loss of the
sucking reflex. Bruising of the belly may also occur. There is a
high mortality rate, and death usually occurs in one to two days.
In puppies three to five weeks old, the disease is less severe. More puppies
survive, but they can develop a
latent
infection. Some later get
neurologic
disease and have symptoms like difficulty walking and blindness.
In adult dogs, the
virus infects the reproductive tract, which allows it to be sexually transmitted
or passed to puppies during birth. The disease can cause
abortion,
stillbirths,
and
infertility. It is also an infrequent cause of
kennel
cough.
Like other types of herpesvirus, previously infected dogs can from time to
time release the virus in
vaginal
secretions, penile
secretions, and discharge from the nose. Raised sores in the vagina or on the
penis may be seen
during these times. Spread of the disease is controlled by not breeding dogs
known to have it.
Serology
can show what dogs have been exposed (although not all of them will be releasing
the virus at that time). Bitches who have a negative serology for CHV should be
isolated from other dogs from three weeks before to three weeks after giving
birth. Bitches that have lost puppies to the disease may have future litters
that survive due to transfer of
antibodies
in the milk.
Diagnosis of the disease in puppies is best accomplished by
autopsy.
Findings include hemorrhages in the
kidneys,
liver,
lungs, and
gastrointestinal tract. Treatment of affected puppies is difficult, although
injecting antibodies to CHV into the abdomen may help some to survive. There is
no vaccine
for CHV.
References
- Ettinger, Stephen J.;Feldman, Edward C.(1995).Textbook of Veterinary
Internal Medicine(4th ed.). W.B. Saunders Company.
ISBN 0-7216-6795-3
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