Canine herpesvirus is a viral disease that can affect any dog, but it is necessary to pay special attention to newborn puppies, since in these dogs can cause death if symptoms are not detected in time and if not enough preventive measures are taken as recommended This pathology is mainly present in hatcheries and can cause several changes in the fertility of the females and in the life of newborns.
If you want to warn your dog or think it could be affected, continue reading this Animal Expert article, we will explain what canine herpesvirus is: contagion, symptoms and prevention.
- Canine herpesvirus (CHV) is a viral agent that affects dogs.
- Especially newborns.
- And can be fatal.
- This virus was first detected in 1965 in the United States.
- Its main characteristic is that it does not withstand high temperatures (37 C).
- So it usually develops in puppies.
- Which usually have a lower temperature than adults (between 35 and 37 C).
However, canine herpesvirus not only affects newborn dogs, it can also affect older dogs, pregnant female dogs, or adult dogs with different symptoms. The cause of this virus is an Alphaherpevirus that contains a double strand of DNA and can survive up to 24 hours. depending on the humidity and temperature, although it is very sensitive to the outside environment.
This infectious agent is mainly present in dog kennels, where around 90% of dogs are HIV positive, which means that they are affected by the herpes virus but have not yet developed symptoms, which means that they can infect others. dogs.
The routes by which the canine herpes virus is contracted are
Canine herpesvirus is transmitted orally when dogs are inside the mother’s uterus or during the path through the genital canal, due to the dog’s vaginal lining, which can be HIV positive or contagion may occur during pregnancy, when transmission will be transplacental, such as the placenta.In this case, the puppies can die at any time during pregnancy, causing abortions in the female.The infection can still occur in newborn puppies, up to 10 to 15 days after delivery, if another mucous membrane of the female enters the Canine herpes virus can also be transmitted by venereal infection if an infected or HIV-positive dog has sex with a healthy female.
Newborn puppies severely infected with the canine herpes virus will have several critical symptoms of infection:
In affected litters, mortality is usually around 80% and if there are survivors, these puppies will be dormant carriers and may have irreversible sequelae, such as blindness, ataxia and vestibular deficiency of the cerebellum.
In older dogs, symptoms of infection cause the virus to secrete through saliva, eye secretion, tears, sputum, urine and faeces.They may also have conjunctivitis, rhinopharyngitis, and even kenne one cough syndrome.
The symptoms of pregnant with canine herpesvirus infection will be placental infection and the production of abortions, premature births or stillbirths.
In adult dogs, the symptoms of this viral agent are similar to those of older dogs and can manifest as conjunctivitis and mild rhinitis; however, it is also possible for the animal’s genitalia to be temporarily infected by cysts on the lining of the female vagina and lesions on the surface of the male penis.
Since the only vaccine currently available on the market against canine herpesvirus can only be given to affected pregnant women so that they can significantly increase their antibodies at the time of delivery and in the following days, so that they can transfer them to colostrum puppies to survive, prevention is the only solution against this viral disease.Therefore, the following preventive measures are recommended:
This article is for informational purposes only, in Animal Expert.com.br we cannot prescribe veterinary treatments or make any type of diagnosis, we suggest that you take your pet to the veterinarian in case of any condition or discomfort.
If you would like to read other similar articles, we recommend you enter our Viral Diseases section.