Peer-reviewed veterinary case report
Diagnosing distemper in dogs with only neurological signs using RT-PCR
By Amude, A M et al.·Published in Veterinary research communications·2006·Laborató, Brazil·View original on PubMed →
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Original publication title: Antemortem diagnosis of CDV infection by RT-PCR in distemper dogs with neurological deficits without the typical clinical presentation.
- Species:
- dog
Plain-English summary
A group of five dogs with neurological problems, like seizures or coordination issues, were suspected of having canine distemper virus (CDV) but didn't show the usual signs of the disease. To confirm the diagnosis, veterinarians used a test called RT-PCR on urine samples, which turned out to be effective, detecting the virus in four out of five dogs. This study suggests that testing urine can be a reliable way to diagnose distemper in dogs that don't show typical symptoms. The findings could help vets identify and treat this serious infection earlier in similar cases.
People also search for: dog neurological problems distemper · canine distemper virus symptoms · RT-PCR test for dog diseases
Abstract
In dogs with neurological disturbances without myoclonus and extraneural signs, the clinical diagnosis of distemper is difficult perform. Considering the great infectious potential of the disease, the possibility of carrying out an antemortem diagnosis of distemper is important, particularly in hospitalized patients with neurological disease. The present study was carried out to evaluate RT-PCR for antemortem CDV detection in hospitalized dogs with neurological disturbances without the typical findings of distemper. We investigated five dogs with canine distemper virus (CDV) encephalomyelitis, in which the clinical diagnosis was not performed owing to the absence of characteristic signs of the disease, such as myoclonus and systemic signs. We observed an apparent high sensitivity of RT-PCR in urine samples for detection of CDV: four out of five urine samples were RT-PCR positive. The results of the present study suggest that urine is a good biological sample for antemortem CDV detection by RT-PCR in dogs with distemper encephalomyelitis in which the clinical diagnosis is likely to be difficult owing to the absence of suggestive distemper signs. The use of two different body fluids (urine and CSF) may increase the RT-PCR sensitivity for antemortem diagnosis of distemper in such cases.
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Search related cases →Original publication on PubMed: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/16838210/