Prevalence of canine coronavirus (CCoV) in dog in Japan: detection of CCoV RNA and retrospective serological analysis

TAKANO, Tomomi; YAMASHITA, Saya; MURATA-OHKUBO, Michiko; SATOH, Kumi; DOKI, Tomoyoshi; HOHDATSU, Tsutomu

We investigated the relationship between CCoV infection and differences in the age, sex, breed and clinical status of dogs. There was no correlation between CCoV infection and the age, sex or breed of dogs, but when the dogs were limited to those with diarrhea symptoms, the infection rate was higher in dogs younger than one year old, as reported by Soma et al. [12] . Based on this finding, CCoV-infected dogs younger than one year old are likely to develop diarrhea, whereas one-year-old or older dogs are unlikely to develop The ORF 3 gene was detected in 88.9% of the CCoVinfected dogs. Since the CCoV ORF 3 gene is specific to CCoV-I [7] , this finding confirmed the presence of CCoV-I in Japan, as reported by Soma et al. [12] , and suggested that CCoV-I is dominant in CCoV-infected dogs in Japan. When the CCoV-I infection rate was compared between dogs younger than 3 months old and 3-month-old or older dogs, no difference was noted, and the CCoV infection rate in dogs younger than 3 months old was similar to that in 2-year-old or older dogs. These findings suggest that CCoV-I infects dogs regardless of the age.