Clinicopathological findings of canine distemper virus infection in dogs

The present study was undertaken during the period from March, 2016 to February, 2017 in Guwahati, Assam, with the objective of early diagnosis of canine distemper infection on the basis of clinical findings collaborating with haematological and biochemical alterations. The prominent clinical signs were respiratory distress, purulent oculo-nasal discharge, biphasic fever, gastroenteritis, hyperkeratosis of the digital pads and various nervous disorders. Commonly noticed nervous disorders were partial to generalized seizure, chorea, paddling and cycling movement, increase salivation, ataxia, muscle tremor and paralysis. The haematological parameters measured include total erythrocyte count, haemoglobin concentration, packed cell volume, total leukocyte count, platelets count, mean corpuscular volume, mean corpuscular haemoglobin and mean corpuscular haemoglobin concentration. The mean total erythrocyte count (4.57 ± 0.23 x106/µl), haemoglobin concentration (8.87 ± 0.52 g/dl), packed cell volume (26.72 ± 1.41%); platelets count (114.38 ± 9.26 x 103/µl) and mean corpuscular volume (54.17 ± 1.51fl) were found lower than the standard range in all canine distemper infected dogs. These findings, suggested that canine distemper results anaemia with immunosuppression in affected dogs. Biochemical analysis of serum samples revealed increase level of alkaline phosphatase and aspartate aminotransferase, whereas the alanine aminotransferase level remains same.