Genetic and Molecular Typing of Canine Parvovirus Strains Circulating in Symptomatic Dogs in Egypt

Abstract

Canine parvovirus (CPV) is considered one of the serious and problematic diseases in young puppies. It causes hemorrhagic enteritis and myocarditis in affected dogs. The aim of the present study was to detect CPV-2 in feces of clinically diseased puppies by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) followed by VP2 gene partial sequencing and molecular characterization of circulating strains in Egypt as well as studying some factors associated with the disease incidence. Forty fecal samples were collected from clinically suspected dogs with CPV-2. The clinical diagnosis was confirmed in 35 suspected clinical cases (87.5%) by PCR using common and specific primers sets for detection of (CPV-2, CPV-2a, CPV-2b, CPV-2c) validating that presumptive clinical diagnosis is practically dependable. Nucleotide sequencing of parvovirus (CPV-2) isolates showed that all the three antigenic types (2a, 2b, and 2c) are currently circulating in Egypt.