Canine distemper is a highly contagious virus of domestic dogs and other animals such as ferrets, skunks, and raccoons. It causes a contagious, incurable, often fatal, multisystemic disease affecting the respiratory, gastrointestinal, and central nervous systems.
How is the disease spread?
The disease is spread mainly by direct contact between an infected dog and a susceptible dog. Coughing and sneezing can also spread the virus over short distances.
What are the clinical signs?
As with all infectious diseases, clinical signs can vary. The main clinical signs are diarrhea, vomiting, a thick yellow discharge from the eyes and/or nose, cough and eventually, seizures and neurological signs. Dogs that recover from the disease are often left with persistent nervous muscle twitches and recurrent seizures.
Are there other diseases causing similar signs?
There are many diseases that cause diarrhea and vomiting, several that cause similar respiratory and neurological signs, but few diseases that cause all of these at the same time.
What is the treatment?
As with most viral infections, there is no specific treatment. Antibiotics are not effective against viruses but do help in controlling the secondary bacterial infections that often occur with distemper. The treatment for distemper is aimed at helping reduce the signs and symptoms. This is accomplished with hospitalization to provide rest and intensive nursing care, intravenous fluid therapy, and symptomatic treatment for the vomiting, diarrhea, cough, etc.
How can I prevent my dog from becoming infected?
The best method of protecting your dog against distemper is proper vaccination. All puppies receive a series of vaccinations 3-4 weeks apart (starting at 6-8 weeks of age). These vaccination boosters are typically administered as part of a DAP (distemper, adenovirus, parvovirus) combination vaccine. After the initial series of vaccinations, your veterinarian will discuss with you an appropriate schedule of revaccination.
How common is distemper?
Canine distemper is seen worldwide, but because of the widespread use of successful vaccines, it is much less common than it was in the 1970’s. It is still seen in populations where vaccination rates are low and in stray dogs. The virus may persist in recovered carrier dogs and in wildlife such as skunks and raccoons. It is essential to keep vaccinating our dog population to prevent canine distemper from returning as a major killer of dogs.