Characterization of Egyptian Isolates of Canine Distemper and Canine Parvoviruses

Abstract

This study was aimed to investigate the incidence of CD and CP viruses in Cairo, Egypt. In a private Vet. Clinic in Cairo, five local breed puppies of about 3-5 months of age were supposed to be infected with the virus of canine distemper (CDV) showing fever, runny nose, salivation and coughing. Another 6 German Shepard and 4 Gryphon puppies of about 6-9 months of age were suffered from fever and bloody diarrhea suspected to be infected with canine parvovirus (CPV). All of these puppies had no history of vaccination. Trials of virus segregation in Vero and MDCK cell lines and usage of virus neutralization test (VNT) using specific anti-CD and anti-CP sera revealed that 3 out of 5 nasal swabs were positive to CD virus and 3 out of 10 fecal swabs were positive to CPV. These results were confirmed by Rt-PCR showing positive amplification with CD and CP, respectively. So, we could say that VNT and Rt-PCR are essential assays to identify CD and CP viruses and puppy vaccination should not be neglected to protect them against such diseases.

Keywords

• canine distemper
• canine parvo
• fluorescent antibody technique
• rt-pcr