Peer-reviewed veterinary case report
High rate of tick-borne encephalitis virus in Swiss dogs with brain
By Dawson, K L D et al.·Published in Schweizer Archiv fur Tierheilkunde·2023·Vetsuisse Faculty·View original on PubMed →
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Original publication title: Virus discovery in dogs with non-suppurative encephalitis reveals a high incidence of tick-borne encephalitis virus infections in Switzerland.
- Species:
- dog
Plain-English summary
A group of dogs in Switzerland with non-suppurative encephalitis (a type of brain inflammation) was found to have a high rate of infections from the tick-borne encephalitis virus. This virus can cause serious neurological symptoms, but it often goes undetected with standard tests. Researchers used advanced sequencing techniques to identify the virus in brain tissue samples from dogs dating back to 1976. The findings suggest that tick-borne encephalitis could be a significant cause of brain inflammation in dogs, highlighting the importance of considering this virus in veterinary diagnostics.
People also search for: dog brain inflammation symptoms · tick-borne encephalitis in dogs · dog encephalitis treatment
Abstract
Viral infections are a frequent cause of disseminated non-suppurative encephalitis in dogs. However, using routine diagnostic methods, the specific virus may remain unknown due to extensive or complete viral clearance or because the virus is unexpected or new. A metatranscriptomics-based approach of combining high-throughput sequencing (HTS) and bioinformatics analysis was used to investigate the viral etiology in archival cases of dogs with non-suppurative encephalitis. In formalin-fixed paraffin embedded (FFPE) brain material from the years 1976 to 2021 a high incidence of tick-borne encephalitis virus (TBEV) was detected. Moreover, canine distemper virus (CDV) was identified without typical demyelinating lesions and canine vesivirus (CaVV) was detected as an unexpected virus associated with non-suppurative encephalitis. We demonstrated the viral presence in brain tissues at the sites of inflammation by immunohistochemistry (IHC) and in situ hybridization (ISH). These results highlight the value of emerging sequencing technologies in veterinary diagnostics and expand our knowledge on the etiologies of encephalitis in dogs.
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Search related cases →Original publication on PubMed: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/37822248/