Canine distemper is a highly prevalent infectious disease in dogs, commonly known as “distemper”, and is mostly concentrated in puppies between the ages of 3-6 months, with very few cases in older dogs and nursing puppies. Distemper is highly contagious and has a high mortality rate, generally up to 50% or more in adult dogs, and up to 80% or more in small dogs. The disease is cyclical, often with a pandemic once every three years. The source of infection is mainly the sick dog and the dog with the virus. The virus is present in the liver, spleen, brain, kidney, and lymph node tissue, and is detoxified through tears, nasal juice, saliva, urine, and exhaled air, contaminating the surrounding air, water, food, and utensils and becoming a vector for the disease. Clinically recovered dogs can be detoxified to the outside world for a long time, which is often overlooked as a source of infection. The main route of transmission is the respiratory tract, followed by the digestive tract. Infection occurs through droplets via the conjunctiva, oral cavity, nasal mucosa, and vaginal and rectal mucosa, but it is not a zoonotic disease. The incubation period of canine distemper is very short, only 3-6 days, and the temperature rises around 4 days after infection, like a common cold, lasting 1-2 days to improve, and then the temperature rises again to about 40°C. Some novice pooper scoopers treat distemper as a cold and fever, so that the condition becomes more and more serious later, and even death occurs. This is why it is important to understand the pathological characteristics and symptoms of distemper in advance in order to take better care of your dog’s life. Etiology 1. Canine distemper is caused by the canine distemper virus (CDV). Canine distemper virus is weak to the external environment and is sensitive to heat and dryness, dryness and most disinfectant drugs can kill the virus, and it is also sensitive to ultraviolet light. The virus is not infectious to humans.2. Canine distemper is more prevalent in the winter, spring, and fall/winter cold seasons, mainly because the distemper virus can survive for a longer period of time in a cold environment, such as at 2-4 degrees Celsius, the distemper virus can survive and remain infectious for several weeks, and freeze-drying can preserve it for several years. This is the main reason why distemper is more prevalent in the winter, spring and autumn/winter cold seasons.3. The spread of the disease is most likely to occur in places where dogs gather, such as pet stores, dog farms and stray dog shelters.4. Distemper can be contracted at all ages, but most puppies within 2 months of age will not be infected because they receive maternal antibodies; dogs between 4 and 12 months of age have the highest incidence and mortality rate of over 50%; the incidence above 2 years of age gradually The incidence decreases from 2 years of age. The symptoms of canine distemper vary in severity and severity. Dogs with distemper show different symptoms at different stages: 1. In the early stages of distemper, the dog’s appetite will decrease, his mental condition will be poor, and his body temperature will rise, accompanied by a runny nose, sneezing or coughing. During this period, the dog’s appetite is low and the dog eats very little, if at all. In the middle of distemper, the dog has been infected with distemper for some time and the situation becomes severe. The dog’s digestive system is destroyed by the virus, resulting in vomiting and diarrhea, and the feces tastes sour. 3. In the later stages of distemper, once the distemper virus has reached a late stage, the virus will invade the entire nervous system, causing the dog to twitch and foam at the mouth, even threatening the dog’s life. Currently, a combination of epidemiology, clinical analysis and routine blood tests is the common method of diagnosis. How to treat canine distemper? 1. In the early stages of the infection, give your dog a large dose of high immunity serum or immunoglobulin for 2 to 3 days. In the middle stage of distemper, you can give gentamicin and ribavirin injections, once in the morning and once in the evening. 3. In the late stage of distemper, the possibility of cure is low. The dog’s body functions have begun to fail, requiring massive blood transfusions and rehydration measures. In short, canine distemper infection in dogs cannot be delayed, and the possibility of cure is very small after a long time, and then the dog will leave you. The course of canine distemper: shock treatment period: 3 ——6 days; symptom control period: 7 —–21 days; conditioning recovery period: 30 – 60 days. Generally speaking, a recovered dog will be immune for life. However, due to the damage to the immune system, dogs need a longer period of conditioning and should gradually increase the time and intensity of their exercise based on adequate nutrition. Prevention So how should such a terrible distemper be prevented?1. Cleanliness: The home must be kept in a clean state, doing regular cleaning and regular disinfection to prevent the breeding of various germs. It is also important that the dog’s own hygiene is maintained and that the dog’s coat is combed and bathed regularly to keep the dog in a clean condition, which can effectively prevent various diseases. 2. It is often easy to ignore parasites, but they are really the culprit of many diseases in dogs, so timely deworming is very necessary. 3. vaccines: dogs must be vaccinated against distemper, preferably once a year. The main types of vaccines are chicken embryo weak vaccine, cellular weak vaccine, triple vaccine (canine distemper, canine infectious hepatitis and canine parvovirus disease) and quintuple vaccine (canine distemper, canine infectious hepatitis, canine parvovirus disease, canine parainfluenza and rabies). Note 1. Sick dogs should rest in a quiet and suitable environment and frequently wipe the corners of their eyes and nasal secretions with warm water. 2. Recovered dogs are virus carriers for six months and it is best not to come into contact with other dogs.
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