Abstract
Infectious diseases are a common cause of death in young dogs. Several factors are thought to predispose young dogs to microbiological infections. Identifying the cause of death is often a challenge, and broad diagnostic analysis is often needed. Here, we aimed to determine the infectious causes of death in young dogs aged up to 1 year, examining how it relates to age (under and over 6 months), lifestyle (owned versus ownerless), breed (purebred and crossbreed), and gender. A retrospective study was conducted in a 3-year period (2015–2017) on 138 dead dogs that had undergone necropsy and microbiological diagnostics. Enteritis and pneumonia were the most commonly observed lesions. Polymicrobism was more prevalent (62.3%) than single-agent infections and associated with a higher rate of generalised lesions. Ownerless dogs showed over a three-fold higher predisposition to viral coinfections than owned dogs. Above all, canine parvovirus was the most prevalent agent (77.5%), followed by canine coronavirus (31.1%) and canine adenovirus (23.9%); ownerless pups had a higher predisposition to these viruses. Escherichia coli (23.9%), Clostridium perfringens type A (18.1%), and Enterococcus spp. (8.7%) were the most commonly identified bacteria, which mostly involved in coinfections. A lower prevalence of CDV and Clostridium perfringens type A was observed in puppies under 6 months of age. In conclusion, this study is the first comprehensive survey on a wide panel of microbiological agents related to necropsy lesions. It lays the groundwork for future studies attempting to understand the circulation of infectious agents in a determined area.
Highlights
A correct and complete determination of the cause of death in young dogs is a challenge for veterinarian practitioners
To the authors’ knowledge, there are no epidemiologic surveys on the causes of death for infectious diseases in young dogs performed in Southern Italy. us, the aim of this study was to identify infections and coinfections associated with macroscopic lesions in deceased dogs under 1 year of age, related to their age and lifestyle
In 6 cases, no lesions were observed (4.3%). e organs were submitted to a broad microbiological analysis, and the chi-square analysis showed that there was a different trend in the distribution of the lesions in the organs related to microbiologic categories (p < 0.0001). us, while in single-organ lesions there was a higher prevalence of pure viral infections (43.7%), for cases with lesions in 2 or more organs, mixed viral-bacterial infections were more prevalent. e distribution of the lesions for the variables—lifestyle, age, gender, and breed—was investigated too (Table 2), and a different trend was observed between ownerless and owned dogs (p 0.013) as well as between crossbreed and purebred dogs (p 0.0026)
Summary
A correct and complete determination of the cause of death in young dogs is a challenge for veterinarian practitioners. In the first days of life, bacterial infections are described to be the prevalent cause of neonatal disease and death [2]; in contrast, at other ages, many factors have been attributed for outbreaks of viral diseases, including age, vaccination status, breed [3, 4], habitat [5], and seasons [6]. Stressful conditions due to overpopulation, high environmental contamination [7], lengthy travel for illegal importations, and lack of vaccination can create immune deficiency [8] In this context, viral infections and bacterial superinfections can occur, and mixed infections are frequently detected [9, 10]
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
