Prevalence of respiratory pathogens detected in dogs with kennel cough in Poland

Abstract

Kennel cough is a multifactorial disease occurring all over the world; however, its epidemiology is still not fully understood. To the authors' knowledge, no studies monitoring the occurrence of infectious agents responsible for kennel cough have been carried out in Poland. Therefore, the objective of our study was to determine which of the four pathogens most frequently isolated in other countries are predominant in north-eastern Poland. Swabs from the upper respiratory tract and tracheal lavage fluids from dogs (n = 40) exhibiting symptoms of this disease were analysed. Canine herpesvirus, canine parainfluenza virus, canine adenovirus type 2 and Bordetella bronchiseptica were identified by polymerase chain reaction. At least one of the above-listed infectious agents was found in all dogs. The predominant pathogen within the area under our study, both in mono-and co-infections, was canine herpesvirus (32/40), whereas canine adenovirus type 2 occurred least frequently (4/40). The effectiveness of detection of selected pathogens from both types of study material was also compared. Tracheal lavage fluid was more suitable for the isolation of canine herpes virus, canine parainfluenza virus, and Bordetella bronchiseptica. Swabs from the upper respiratory tract were more suitable for the isolation of canine adenovirus type 2. Canine, canine herpesvirus, canine parainfluenza virus, respiratory disease

Aetiology of Canine Infectious Respiratory Disease Complex and Prevalence of its Pathogens in Europe

“…Whether CHV is the primary cause of CIRDC or, as a latent herpesvirus, opportunistically reactivates at the time of infection with other pathogens of the complex is unclear. Kaczorek et al (2016) found CHV in combination with other patho-gens in 71.9% of dogs with CIRDC compared with 28.1% of dogs with only CHV. Samples were not tested for all possible pathogens, leaving doubt as to whether CHV infection alone induced the clinical signs.…”

“…The authors speculated that initial infection with CPiV may predispose dogs to lung infections with opportunistic bacteria. Kaczorek et al (2016) reported the highest prevalence of CPiV in dogs with CIRDC of 67.5%, but no healthy control group was included in this study.…”

“…CPiV infection was often accompanied by the presence of other pathogens. Common combinations were: (1) CPiV with Bb, which occurred more often in dogs with CIRDC than in healthy dogs (P <0.001, Schulz et al, 2014b), (2) CPiV with CRCoV Schulz et al, 2014b;Decaro et al, 2016), and (3) co-infection with CAV-2 and/or CHV Kaczorek et al, 2016).…”

“…Vojtek et al (2010) investigated the presence of antibodies against CHV in 20 dogs with CIRDC and found that 60% were positive, while none of the healthy control dogs tested seropositive. Kaczorek et al (2016) isolated CHV from 80% of dogs with CIRDC and found that detection was more successful with tracheal lavage samples than swabs from the upper respiratory tract. Unfortunately this study did not contain a control population.…”

“…The higher detection rate in tracheal samples (19.4%) compared with lung samples (10.4%) is characteristic for the virus as its target tissue is mainly ciliated epithelium of the upper respiratory tract (Appel and Binn, 1987). In dogs with CIRDC or bronchial pneumonia, CPiV was detected in 6.5%e67.5% of animals (Schulz et al, 2014b;Viitanen et al, 2015;Decaro et al, 2016;Kaczorek et al, 2016;Hiebl et al, 2019). CPiV prevalence in healthy and diseased dogs was compared in one study and shown to be significantly higher if dogs had CIRDC (Schulz et al, 2014b).…”