Peer-reviewed veterinary case report
Severe gastroenteritis in elderly dog linked to canine bocavirus
By Ohshima, T et al.·Published in Veterinary microbiology·2010·Advanced Technology Development Center, Japan·View original on PubMed →
PetCaseFinder translated the abstract of this peer-reviewed paper into plain English so pet owners can read it. We do not publish original research — every detail traces back to the citation above. How we work →
Original publication title: A minute virus of canines (MVC: canine bocavirus) isolated from an elderly dog with severe gastroenteritis, and phylogenetic analysis of MVC strains.
- Species:
- dog
Plain-English summary
A family had three adult dogs, and two of them developed severe diarrhea and vomiting. Tests showed that one dog was infected with a virus called minute virus of canines (MVC), which is not commonly linked to gastrointestinal issues in older dogs. Interestingly, when researchers tried to infect other adult dogs with MVC, they did not show any signs of illness. This suggests that while MVC was found in the sick dogs, it may not be the direct cause of their symptoms. More research is needed to understand the role of this virus in dog health.
People also search for: dog vomiting diarrhea · minute virus of canines · dog gastroenteritis treatment
Abstract
Two of the three adult dogs kept in a family developed severe gastroenteritis. From the feces of one of the affected dogs a minute virus of canines (MVC) was detected by PCR and virus isolation. That this virus had recently infected the dogs was indicated by high anti-MVC antibody titers of their sera. No other virus commonly associated with canine gastrointestinal disease was implicated. As no previous association of MVC infection and disease in aged dogs had been described, further characterization of the isolated virus was performed to determine if it had unique pathogenic or genetic properties. Experimental infection of adult dogs did not result in clinical disease and comparison of the viral genome with other MVCs did not reveal any novel elements. The American, Japanese and Korean MVC strains studied were closely related to bocaviruses of bovine and human origin, and appeared to have evolved uniquely in the dog population after dividing from the common ancestor of bocaviruses. Further detailed clinical and virological studies are warranted to define the role of MVCs in disease in adult dogs.
Find similar cases for your pet
PetCaseFinder finds other peer-reviewed reports of pets with the same symptoms, plus a plain-English summary of what was tried across them.
Search related cases →Original publication on PubMed: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/20427134/