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. 2021 Apr 11;8(4):61.
doi: 10.3390/vetsci8040061.

Prolonged Infection of Canine Distemper Virus in a Mixed-Breed Dog

Zsófia Lanszki  1   2 , Brigitta Zana  1   2 , Safia Zeghbib  1   2 , Ferenc Jakab  1   2 , Nikoletta Szabó  3 , Gábor Kemenesi  1   2
Affiliations

Prolonged Infection of Canine Distemper Virus in a Mixed-Breed Dog

Zsófia Lanszki et al. Vet Sci. .

Abstract

Canine distemper virus (CDV) is a major viral pathogen in domestic dogs, belonging to the Paramyxoviridae family, in the Morbillivirus genus. It is present worldwide, and a wide range of domestic animals and wild carnivores are at risk. In the absence of vaccination, dogs have a low chance of survival; however, if and when a dog survives, it can take an average of a few weeks to a few months to fully wipe out the virus. In the present study, we traced the course of infection of a 1-year-old mixed-breed male dog. The animal had an unusually long course of persistent CDV infection with a vector-borne heartworm (Dirofilaria immitis) co-infection. The dog excreted the CDV for 17 months with PCR positivity in urine samples collected from February 2019 through June 2020. The sequencing and phylogenetic analysis of the hemagglutinin gene revealed the CDV to be the member of the endemic Arctic-like genetic lineage. To the best of our knowledge, this report represents the longest documented canine infection of CDV. Notably, we highlight the necessity regarding CDV infectivity studies to better comprehend the transmission attributes of the virus.

Keywords: Dirofilaria immitis; Morbillivirus; Paramyxoviridae; arctic-like lineage; canine distemper virus; domestic dog; haemagglutinin gene; heartworm; shelter.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Phylogenetic tree based on the full-length hemagglutinin (H) nucleotide sequences. Phocine distemper virus (PDV) (GenBank accession number: AF479277) was used as an outgroup to root the phylogenetic trees. Bootstrap values lower than 70% are not shown. The sequence of interest is highlighted in bold and blue color.
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