dog and cat assay data sheet
Canine distemper virus (CDV)
Test code:
S0092 - Ultrasensitive qualitative detection of canine distemper
virus by reverse transcription coupled real time polymerase chain
reaction
S0092 is
included on
P0036 - canine
neurological panel, and on P0019 - canine
respiratory panel
Canine
distemper (CD) is a highly contagious disease in young dogs,
particularly those 3 to 6 months of age. It has a high morbidity
and mortality rate. The disease can be spread by aerosol
infection (Appel and Gillespie, 1972) and is characterized by a
diphasic fever curve and acute rhinitis, and later by
bronchitis, catarrhal pneumonia, severe gastroenteritis, and
nervous signs.
The causative agent of the disease is a
virus belonging to the genus Morbillivirus of family
Paramyxoviridae. Since the canine distemper virus (CDV) can
survive for a longer period of time in cold conditions, the
disease spreads mainly in winter months. Although the disease is
highly communicable, it is comparatively rare in many developed
countries due to vaccination using the attenuated live virus,
but occasional outbreaks of CDV infection can still occur in
vaccinated populations of dogs. In areas with unvaccinated
populations, CD is extremely widespread.
The host
spectrum of CDV comprises dogs and many other carnivores and
noncarnivores as well as marine mammals. Recently, a possible
link between Paget's disease of bone in humans and CDV infection
was shown by epidemiological studies and was substantiated by
detection of CDV RNA in affected tissues (Gordon, et al., 1992;
O’Driscoll, et al., 1990). CDV is also discussed as a candidate
that might play a role in the initiation of multiple sclerosis (Rohowsky-Kochan,
et al., 1995). Thus prevention of CDV infection in house dogs
may have a direct impact on human safety.
Diagnosis of
CD in acute or subacute form is usually based on clinical signs
and history in unvaccinated puppies. But it has been difficult
to differentiate CD from other diseases such as kennel cough in
the early stage. Serologic detection of IgM antibody can be
useful, but poses a problem in young puppies due to uncertainty
caused by maternal antibody interference. Definitive diagnosis
can be made through isolation of CDV, or through detection of
CDV in epithelial cells after fluorescent antibody (FA)
staining. However, virus isolation takes several days to weeks
and is frequently not effective in the acute stage of the
infection. In addition, FA testing is successful only during the
first few days of acute signs of distemper.
CDV
detection by PCR is the most rapid, sensitive and specific
method for the diagnosis of this infection. It also helps to
eliminate false negative and positive cases.
Utilities:
-
Help confirm the disease causing agent
-
Help ensure that animal groups and populations are free of
CDV
-
Early prevention of spread of this virus among a
population
-
Minimize human exposure to this virus
-
Safety monitoring of biological products and vaccines
that derive from susceptible animals
References:
Appel, M. J. G., and Gillespie, J.H.(1972). Canine distemper
virus, p. 1-96. In S. Gard, C. Hallauer, and K. F. Meyer (ed.),
Virology monographs 11. Springer-Verlag, New York, N.Y.
Gordon, M. T., Mee, A.P., Anderson, D.C. and Sharp, P.T. (1992)
Canine distemper virus transcripts sequenced from pagetic bone.
Bone Miner. 19:159-174. O'Driscoll, J. B., Buckler, H.M.,
Jeacock, J. and Anderson, D.C. (1990) Dogs, distemper and
osteitis deformans: a further epidemiological study. Bone Miner.
11:209-216. Rohowsky-Kochan, C., Dowling, P.C., and Cook,
S.D. (1995) Canine distemper virus-specific antibodies in
multiple sclerosis. Neurology 45:1554-1560.
Specimen requirement:
Nasopharyngeal swab, or 0.2 ml whole blood in EDTA (purple top) tube, or 0.2 ml CSF, urine, plasma or serum,
or 0.2 ml fresh or frozen tissue.
Contact Zoologix if advice is needed to determine an appropriate specimen type for a specific diagnostic application. For specimen types not listed here, please contact Zoologix to confirm specimen acceptability and shipping instructions.
For all
specimen types, if there will be a delay in shipping, or during
very warm weather, refrigerate specimens until shipped and ship
with a cold pack unless more stringent shipping requirements are
specified. Frozen specimens should be shipped so as to remain
frozen in transit. See shipping
instructions for more information.
Turnaround time:
2 business days
Methodology:
Qualitative reverse transcription coupled real time PCR
Normal range:
Nondetected
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