Todayโs path rounds are on ๐๐๐ง๐ข๐ง๐ ๐ก๐๐ซ๐ฉ๐๐ฌ๐ฏ๐ข๐ซ๐ฎ๐ฌ-๐!
๐๐ก๐๐ญ ๐ข๐ฌ ๐ข๐ญ?
๐๐๐ง๐ข๐ง๐ ๐ก๐๐ซ๐ฉ๐๐ฌ๐ฏ๐ข๐ซ๐ฎ๐ฌ-๐ is a virus in the family Herpesviridae, which is the same family as human herpesvirus! As you might have guessed by the name, this disease affects canids, like our pet dogs.
๐๐ก๐จ ๐ ๐๐ญ๐ฌ ๐ข๐ญ?
All ages of dogs can get this disease, however today we will be talking about its effects in newborn puppies. In adult dogs, it typically produces a mild upper respiratory infection, or no clinical signs at all.
๐๐จ๐ฐ ๐๐จ ๐ฉ๐ฎ๐ฉ๐ฉ๐ข๐๐ฌ ๐ ๐๐ญ ๐ญ๐ก๐ ๐ฏ๐ข๐ซ๐ฎ๐ฌ?
Puppies can get the virus in many different ways. Infection in the mother can pass to the puppies through the placenta, or even as the puppy passes through the birth canal.
๐๐ก๐ฒ ๐ข๐ฌ ๐ญ๐ก๐ข๐ฌ ๐ ๐ฉ๐ซ๐จ๐๐ฅ๐๐ฆ?
Infection in puppies is commonly fatal, with puppies becoming sick 3-7 days after birth. The virus is ๐๐ฒ๐ญ๐จ๐ฅ๐ฒ๐ญ๐ข๐, meaning that it causes death of cells that it infects. Common sites that the virus targets are the lung, kidneys, heart, intestine, pancreas, adrenal glands and spleen.
๐๐จ๐ฐ ๐ข๐ฌ ๐ข๐ญ ๐๐ข๐๐ ๐ง๐จ๐ฌ๐๐?
Like many other diseases, this disease can be diagnosed based on clinical suspicion. At necropsy, you can often see multiple areas of hemorrhage over many organs, primarily the kidney. To confirm the diagnosis, PCR or ELISA tests to identify the virus can be used on tissues taken during necropsy.
๐๐จ๐ฐ ๐ข๐ฌ ๐ข๐ญ ๐ญ๐ซ๐๐๐ญ๐๐? ๐๐จ๐ฐ ๐ข๐ฌ ๐ข๐ญ ๐ฉ๐ซ๐๐ฏ๐๐ง๐ญ๐๐?
Unfortunately, there is no real treatment for this disease in puppies, and if puppies do survive, they often have long-term issues due to damage to their organs from the virus. Prevention is the best measure against this disease, usually by isolating pregnant dogs from others during their last 3 weeks of gestation and excellent hygiene practices.
๐๐ก๐จ๐ญ๐จ๐ฌ
1-3) Examples of the multifocal hemorrhages on the kidneys.
4) Hemorrhages in the cortex of the kidney from the disease.
๐๐จ๐ฎ๐ซ๐๐๐ฌ
Maxie, G. Jubb, Kennedy and Palmerโs Pathology of Domestic Animals, Volume 3. Sixth Edition.
Photo 1 courtesy of University of Calgary Diagnostic Services Unit.
Photos 2-4 courtesy of Noahโs Arkive.
