Peer-reviewed veterinary case report
Detecting wild-type canine distemper virus in sick dogs using RT-PCR
By Di Francesco, Cristina E et al.·Published in Journal of veterinary diagnostic investigation : official publication of the American Association of Veterinary Laboratory Diagnosticians, Inc·2012·Department of Comparative Biomedical Sciences, Italy·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 We do not publish original research — every detail traces back to the citation above.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: Detection by hemi-nested reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction and genetic characterization of wild type strains of Canine distemper virus in suspected infected dogs.
- Species:
- dog
Plain-English summary
A group of dogs showing signs like coughing, vomiting, and seizures were tested for Canine distemper virus (CDV) using a new, sensitive lab test. Out of 86 samples, 38 tested positive for the virus, indicating that even vaccinated dogs can still be at risk for this serious illness. The researchers found that all the detected strains were wild types, meaning they were not from vaccines. This study highlights the importance of monitoring for CDV in dogs, as it can still pose a threat despite vaccination efforts.
People also search for: dog coughing and vomiting · Canine distemper virus symptoms · vaccinated dog distemper risk
Abstract
A new highly sensitive and specific hemi-nested reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) assay was applied to detect nucleoprotein (NP) gene of Canine distemper virus (CDV) in samples collected from dogs showing respiratory, gastrointestinal, and neurological signs. Thirty-eight out of 86 samples were positive suggesting that despite the vaccination, canine distemper may still represent a high risk to the canine population. The 968 base pair (bp) fragments from the hemagglutinin (H) gene of 10 viral strains detected in positive samples were amplified and analyzed by restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP) using AluI and PsiI enzymes in order to differentiate among vaccine and wild-type CDV strains and to characterize the field viral strains. The products of the both enzymatic digestions allowed identification all viruses as wild strains of CDV. In addition, the RFLP analysis with AluI provided additional information about the identity level among the strains analyzed on the basis of the positions of the cleavage site in the nucleotide sequences of the H gene. The method could be a more useful and simpler method for molecular studies of CDV strains.
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/22362940/