Concomitant canine distemper, infectious canine hepatitis, canine parvoviral enteritis, canine infectious tracheobronchitis, and toxoplasmosis in a puppy

• Published in: Journal of veterinary diagnostic investigation 2013, Vol.25 (1), p.129-135
• Main Authors: Headley, Selwyn Arlington, Alfieri, Amauri Alcindo, Fritzen, Juliana Torres Tomazi, Garcia, João Luis, Weissenböck, Herbert, Silva, Ana Paula da, Bodnar, Livia, Okano, Werner, Alfieri, Alice Fernandes
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Adenoviridae Infections - parasitology; Adenoviridae Infections - veterinary; Adenoviridae Infections - virology; Adenovirus; Adenoviruses, Canine - genetics; Adenoviruses, Canine - isolation & purification; Animals; astrocytes; atrophy; blindness; bronchitis; canine distemper; Canine distemper virus; Canine parvovirus; capsid; cerebellum; cerebrum; chronic hepatitis; cornea; death; Distemper - parasitology; Distemper - virology; Distemper Virus, Canine - genetics; Distemper Virus, Canine - isolation & purification; DNA; DNA, Viral - chemistry; DNA, Viral - genetics; Dogs; edema; enteritis; epithelial cells; Fatal Outcome; Feline panleukopenia virus; genes; genotyping; hepatocytes; Histocytochemistry; histopathology; inclusion bodies; infectious canine hepatitis; lungs; Male; mixed infection; myocarditis; myocardium; necropsy; necrosis; Parvoviridae Infections - parasitology; Parvoviridae Infections - veterinary; Parvoviridae Infections - virology; Parvovirus, Canine - genetics; Parvovirus, Canine - isolation & purification; pneumonia; polymerase chain reaction; Polymerase Chain Reaction - veterinary; puppies; seizures; seroprevalence; siblings; Toxoplasma - genetics; Toxoplasma - isolation & purification; Toxoplasma gondii; toxoplasmosis; Toxoplasmosis, Animal - parasitology; Toxoplasmosis, Animal - virology; urine; villi
• ISSN: 1040-6387; 1943-4936
• DOI: 10.1177/1040638712471344

The concomitant infections of Canine distemper virus (CDV), Canine adenovirus A types 1 (CAdV-1) and 2 (CAdV-2), Canine parvovirus type 2 (CPV-2), and Toxoplasma gondii are described in a 43-day-old mixed-breed puppy. Clinically, there were convulsions and blindness with spontaneous death; 14 siblings of this puppy, born to a 10-month-old dam, which was seropositive (titer: 1,024) for T. gondii, also died. Necropsy revealed unilateral corneal edema (blue eye), depletion of intestinal lymphoid tissue, non-collapsible lungs, congestion of meningeal vessels, and a pale area in the myocardium. Histopathology demonstrated necrotizing myocarditis associated with intralesional apicomplexan protozoa; necrotizing and chronic hepatitis associated with rare intranuclear inclusion bodies within hepatocytes; necrotizing bronchitis and bronchiolitis; interstitial pneumonia associated with eosinophilic intracytoplasmic inclusion bodies within epithelial cells; atrophy and fusion of intestinal villi with cryptal necrosis; and white matter demyelination of the cerebrum and cerebellum associated with intranuclear inclusion bodies within astrocytes. Polymerase chain reaction (PCR) amplified the partial fragments (bp) of the CDV N gene (290 bp), CPV-2c VP2 capsid protein gene (583 bp), and CAdV-1 (508 bp) and CAdV-2 (1,030 bp) E gene from urine and tissue samples. The PCR assays demonstrated that the apicomplexan protozoa observed within several organs contained DNA specific for T. gondii; genotyping revealed T. gondii type III. The findings support the characterization of concomitant infections of CDV, CAdV-1, CAdV-2, CPV-2, and T. gondii in this puppy. Further, seroreactivity to T. gondii of the dam in association with the systemic disease observed in the puppy described herein is suggestive of congenital toxoplasmosis.