Canine Distemper: Many people may have heard of this disease but are not familiar with its symptoms. The initial symptoms of canine distemper are similar to those of a dog with a common cold: lethargy, weakness, and not eating. But let me tell you, distemper is much more dangerous. If a dog does not receive proper treatment, it can be dangerous to the point of death. Let’s get to know this disease and how to treat it if your dog is infected. And what are some ways to prevent your dog from getting distemper?
Canine Distemper It is a highly contagious disease of dogs and there is no specific cure. This disease is caused by a virus in the Morbillivirus group, which is an RNA virus that can cause disease in dogs and other animals in the same family as dogs, such as wolves, mink, skunks, raccoons, and ferrets. These animals are often the carriers of the disease to dogs we keep in our homes.
Symptoms of the disease
1. High fever, lethargy, weakness, loss of appetite, found in the early incubation period of the disease.
2. Respiratory system: Runny nose, conjunctivitis, red eyes, watery eyes, eye mucus, tears, coughing, sneezing, difficulty breathing. If a secondary bacterial infection is found, the mucus and tears found will be cloudy.
3. Gastrointestinal system: Dogs are often found to vomit and have diarrhea, but the symptoms are not as severe as with enteritis.
4. Skin system: Dogs will have pustules scattered over their bodies, most commonly found under their bellies. In addition, dogs with chronic infections will have thicker skin on their paws than normal.
5. Nervous system When the virus spreads to the brainstem, brain and spinal cord, the dog will become unconscious, have muscle spasms, mouth twitching, head twitching, convulsions, moaning, and be unable to control their own movements. Common symptoms are that the dog will tense up and bite its mouth.
Treatment
Currently, there is no direct antiviral drug that is effective in treating canine distemper. Treatment is symptomatic and prevents secondary infection, as follows:
1. Give antibiotics to control secondary bacterial infections.
2. Give saline and nutrients intravenously to correct dehydration and malnutrition.
3. Give oxygen if the dog has difficulty breathing or lacks oxygen due to pneumonia.
4. Give sedatives or anticonvulsants if the dog has neurological symptoms from the virus entering the brain.
Infection
The easiest way to contract canine distemper is through breathing in germs from the air, as well as through direct contact with nasal mucus, saliva, tears, feces, urine, or other secretions. There are no reports that canine distemper can be transmitted through eating food. After a dog is infected, the virus will incubate in the tonsils and lymph nodes in the upper respiratory tract.
Canine distemper can cause both acute and chronic symptoms in the respiratory, gastrointestinal, nervous, and integumentary systems. The disease is usually severe and mortality is high, especially in puppies between 6 and 12 weeks of age, most of whom are susceptible to this virus.
The incubation period of the disease in dogs is an average of 7-14 days. During this period, we may not find any abnormalities. But after that, the virus will spread throughout the dog's body, causing infection in the lymphatic system and suppressing the dog's immune system. This makes the dog's body weak and easily infected with bacterial infections. The virus will also destroy the body's mucous membranes, causing the dog to become sick and infected with multiple systems at the same time, such as the respiratory system, digestive system, skin system, and nervous system.
Diagnosis
1. Direct detection of the virus in blood, nasal mucus, tears, and other secretions. This method is highly accurate, currently accepted, and expensive.
2. Blood test to check for viral infection in the bloodstream. However, this method is not specific and the blood test result is not accurate.
3. Cytological examination, but has low accuracy and is not popular at present.
4. Measuring the body's immune or antibody levels against the virus. However, the interpretation may be incorrect if the dog has immunity inherited from its mother or received immunity from vaccination.
Protection
1. Separate dogs with unknown vaccination history for approximately 2 weeks before bringing them into the group with other dogs.
2. Vaccinate puppies. Puppies in the group at risk of canine distemper infection can be vaccinated from 1 to 1/2 months of age. Puppies can generally be vaccinated at 2 months of age. A booster shot should be given 2 weeks later to maintain a high enough immunity level to prevent the disease.
Anyone who raises a dog should bring their dog to get vaccinated against canine distemper every year. Currently, there has been a development in using the canine distemper vaccine together with vaccinations against other diseases such as enteritis, hepatitis, leptospirosis, colds, bronchitis, and rabies.
References
Dr. Oraya Prapanpoj, veterinarian at the Department of Internal Medicine, Department of Surgery and Department of Cardiology, Talingchan Animal Hospital
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