Peer-reviewed veterinary case report
Dogs with distemper brain disease but no usual symptoms
By Amude, A M et al.·Published in Research in veterinary science·2007·Department of Veterinary Preventive Medicine, Brazil·View original on PubMed →
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Original publication title: Clinicopathological findings in dogs with distemper encephalomyelitis presented without characteristic signs of the disease.
- Species:
- dog
Plain-English summary
A group of dogs with neurological problems, like difficulty walking or weakness in all four legs, were found to have distemper encephalomyelitis (a brain infection caused by the canine distemper virus) even though they didn't show typical signs of the disease. Out of 20 dogs that were examined after they passed away, 8 were diagnosed with this condition through lab tests. The study highlighted that while blood tests showed non-specific results, examining the fluid around the spine could indicate a distemper virus infection. Unfortunately, the dogs with this condition did not survive, but the findings help veterinarians recognize distemper in cases where classic symptoms are missing.
People also search for: dog neurological problems · distemper encephalomyelitis symptoms · canine distemper virus diagnosis
Abstract
The clinical diagnosis of distemper is difficult in dogs presented with nervous deficits in the absence of extraneural signs and myoclonus. The aim of this study is to verify how the clinicopathological findings may suggest distemper encephalomyelitis in such cases. We prospectively investigated 20 necropsied dogs presented with neurological signs without those characteristic signs of distemper at the time of hospital admission. Eight out of 20 dogs were diagnosed with distemper encephalomyelitis at post mortem by reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) and histological examination. Cerebellar and/or vestibular signs progressing to tetraparesis/plegia were frequent neurological signs. Abnormalities in hematologic findings were non-specific, nevertheless the cerebrospinal fluid evaluation could suggest canine distemper virus (CDV) infection by a lymphocytic pleocytosis. At post mortem chronic CDV encephalomyelitis was predominant. Our clinical results, as well as the predominance of chronic encephalomyelitis, differ from other studies about CDV encephalomyelitis with naturally infected dogs presenting extraneural signs and myoclonus.
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Search related cases →Original publication on PubMed: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/17084426/