Molecular Detection Based Epidemiology of Canine Parvovirus and Canine Coronavirus Infection in Diarrheic Dogs in Haryana

Abstract

Diarrheic faecal samples of dogs were screened for the presence of canine parvovirus (CPV) and canine coronavirus (CCoV) using polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) respectively followed by analysis of positive cases to find their relationship with breed, age, sex and vaccination status. Faecal samples were collected from dogs having vomition and diahorrea. PCR amplification of DNA and RNA (c-DNA) templates extracted from the faecal samples was conducted using the designed primers against the relevant genes (VP2 and M) of the two viruses respectively. Out of a total 50 screened faecal samples, twenty five were found positive for CPV and 4 samples for CCoV infection by developed PCR/RT-PCR. Out of 25 CPV positive dogs, 23 dogs were from Hisar district and one dog each was reported from Fatehabad and Jind district of Haryana. Out of four positive CCoV dogs one dog was reported from Fatehabad and three other were reported from Hisar. The disease was found to be more common in mixed breed, male pups of less than 6 months of age. The percent prevalence of positive cases in unvaccinated or inadequately vaccinated dogs was found to be 96.55%. PCR and RT-PCR based detection revealed 50% and 8% prevalence of CPV and CCoV respectively. It may be concluded that CPV and CCoV infections are very much prevalent in the state and their prevalence is very high in dogs not vaccinated. Thus, there is a need to strengthen vaccination against these etiological agents.