Role of canine circovirus in dogs with acute haemorrhagic diarrhoea

Abstract

Canine circovirus (CanineCV) has been detected in some dogs with severe haemorrhagic diarrhoea, but its pathogenic role is unclear. This study evaluated a suspected association between the presence of CanineCV and acute haemorrhagic diarrhoea syndrome (AHDS) in dogs. The prevalence of CanineCV in dogs with AHDS was compared with that in healthy dogs and those infected with canine parvovirus (CPV). Additionally, time to recovery and mortality rate were compared between CanineCV-positive and CanineCV-negative dogs. Faecal samples of dogs with AHDS (n=55), healthy dogs (n=66) and dogs infected with CPV (n=54) were examined by two real-time TaqMan PCR assays targeting the replicase and capsid genes of CanineCV. CanineCV was detected in faecal samples of two dogs with AHDS, three healthy controls and seven dogs infected with CPV. Among the three groups, there was no significant difference in prevalence of CanineCV. CPV-infected animals that were coinfected with CanineCV had a significantly higher mortality rate compared with those negative for CanineCV. CanineCV does not appear to be the primary causative agent of AHDS in dogs, but might play a role as a negative co-factor in disease outcome in dogs with CPV infection.

Duck “beak atrophy and dwarfism syndrome” disease complex: Interplay of novel goose parvovirus-related virus and duck circovirus?

“…DuCV infection may cause immunosuppression in ducks and the predisposed ducks are prone to be coinfected by other bacterial and viral pathogens (Soike et al., ; Zhang et al., ). The coinfection cases of parvovirus and circovirus were detected in pigs (Sun et al., ), canines (Anderson et al., ; Thaiwong, Wise, Maes, Mullaney, & Kiupel, ) and wild carnivores (Zaccaria et al., ). However, little is known about parvovirus coinfection with circovirus in ducks.…”

What is causing acute haemorrhagic diarrhoea syndrome in dogs?

“…Such interactions would presumably occur locally within the intestinal mucosa, as systemic immunosuppression is not a part of AHDS. This hypothesis is not supported by data presented by Anderson and others (2017), as canine CV was detected in faecal samples from only 12 of 175 (6.8 per cent) dogs sampled. More than 50 per cent of the canine CV positive samples came from dogs with CPV-2 enteritis, and only two of 55 (3.6 per cent) dogs with idiopathic AHDS tested positive for the virus.…”

“…Altogether, these reports pointed towards a possible involvement of canine CV in the development of diarrhoea in dogs, but have not conclusively linked the virus to the disease. The aim of the study by Anderson and others (2017), summarised on p 542 of this week's issue of Veterinary Record, was to investigate the possible link between canine CV infection and ADHS.…”

“…If so, elucidation of factors that play a role in changes to the microbial community of the canine gut should be a target of future studies, as such knowledge could be used in development of novel therapeutic or preventive approaches not only for AHDS affected dogs, but for dogs with other gastrointestinal diseases. To that end, the results presented by Anderson and others (2017) provide one more piece of the puzzle to the complex picture of canine gastrointestinal health and disease.…”

Porcine Circoviruses and Xenotransplantation

“…Porcine circovirus 1 (PCV1) was first described at the Robert Koch Institute, Berlin [19]. Other members of this family are PCV2, several avian circoviruses [18], and recently new circoviruses have been isolated from mammals: bat [20,21], dogs [22,23,24,25], mink [26,27], and others. Circoviruses are non-enveloped spherical (16–18 nm) particles (Figure 1) with a single-stranded and circular small DNA genome.…”