Detection of respiratory viruses in shelter dogs maintained under varying environmental conditions

Monteiro, Francielle Liz; Cargnelutti, Juliana Felipetto; Martins, Mathias; Anziliero, Deniz; Erhardt, Magnólia Martins; Weiblen, Rudi; Flores, Eduardo Furtado

In shelters #2 and #3, the respiratory viruses were detected only in single infections with 14% of infections caused by CPIV or CaHV-1 (shelter #2) and 9% by CDV or CAdV-2 (shelter #3). CaHV-1 was detected in samples collected only from the dogs of shelter #2, corresponding to 6% of the collected samples. Although CaHV-1 may cause respiratory disease, the infection has also been associated with other clinical outcomes, including reproductive disease. 35, 36 Due to the ability of CaHV-1 to remain latent in the host, its diagnosis in dog populations should preferentially be performed via serological testing. [37] [38] [39] [40] In this sense, we detected positive serology for CaHV-1 in 7 out of 8 dogs in shelter #1 (not shown). A two-year longitudinal investigation in a shelter in the United States involving 211 necropsied dogs showed CaHV-1 involvement in 12.8% and 9.6% of trachea and lung samples, respectively, reinforcing the involvement of CaHV-1 in respiratory disease in dogs. 2 The identity of the sequenced matrix of the shelter samples with sequences deposited in GenBank revealed 96 to 99% identity (KU341102, KU341103, KU341104 and KU341105) with the N gene (AJ009656. Thus, the results obtained in this research showed that respiratory virus infections (CPIV, CDV, CAdV-2 and CaHV-1) are common in dogs housed in public shelters. The frequency and dissemination of these viral infections appear to be related to a high population density and poor sanitary and nutritional conditions. These results also indicate the need for control/prevention measures, such as vaccination and good environmental conditions, to minimize these infections in shelter dogs. CPIV infection appears to play an especially predominant role in winter respiratory infections in dog shelters and warrants further preventive measures.