Peer-reviewed veterinary case report
Detecting canine distemper virus in a vaccinated French Bulldog
By Schatzberg, Scott J et al.·Published in Journal of veterinary diagnostic investigation : official publication of the American Association of Veterinary Laboratory Diagnosticians, Inc·2009·Department of Small Animal Medicine and Surgery, United States·View original on PubMed →
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Original publication title: Broadly reactive pan-paramyxovirus reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction and sequence analysis for the detection of Canine distemper virus in a case of canine meningoencephalitis of unknown etiology.
- Species:
- dog
Plain-English summary
An 8-month-old male French Bulldog, who had been vaccinated against Canine distemper virus (CDV), showed signs of neurological problems like seizures and coordination issues. Despite being vaccinated, the dog developed meningoencephalitis, a serious brain infection. Tests confirmed the presence of CDV in the dog's brain, indicating that the virus was a wild-type strain rather than the vaccine strain. This case highlights the importance of advanced testing methods to identify infections in dogs, even when they have been vaccinated.
People also search for: dog seizures after vaccination · French Bulldog neurological problems · Canine distemper virus treatment
Abstract
Despite the immunologic protection associated with routine vaccination protocols, Canine distemper virus (CDV) remains an important pathogen of dogs. Antemortem diagnosis of systemic CDV infection may be made by reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) and/or immunohistochemical testing for CDV antigen; central nervous system infection often requires postmortem confirmation via histopathology and immunohistochemistry. An 8-month-old intact male French Bulldog previously vaccinated for CDV presented with multifocal neurologic signs. Based on clinical and postmortem findings, the dog's disease was categorized as a meningoencephalitis of unknown etiology. Broadly reactive, pan-paramyxovirus RT-PCR using consensus-degenerate hybrid oligonucleotide primers, combined with sequence analysis, identified CDV amplicons in the dog's brain. Immunohistochemistry confirmed the presence of CDV antigens, and a specific CDV RT-PCR based on the phosphoprotein gene identified a wild-type versus vaccinal virus strain. This case illustrates the utility of broadly reactive PCR and sequence analysis for the identification of pathogens in diseases with unknown etiology.
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Search related cases →Original publication on PubMed: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/19901287/