Мonitoring of viruses spread among domestic cats and dogs in Dnipropetrovsk

Abstract

Cats and dogs kept at home, as well as other animals, are susceptible to infectious diseases caused by pathogenic microorganisms, including viruses. Viral infections in urban environments are extremely common and cause severe diseases in domestic animals which often lead to death, resulting in high material and moral damages to owners of animals. Therefore, investigation of the prevalence of pathogens of viral diseases is very important in our time. The aim of this work is to define the indicators of spreading viral diseases of animals in Dnipropetrovsk, to analyze the seasonal spread of viral infections in animals, and influence of sex and breed on the frequency of disease manifestations. Materials for research were obtained on the basis of three veterinary clinics in Dnipropetrovsk. During the study, we used serological methods of diagnostics of clinical materials, namely ELISA and IHA. Immunosorbent assay was performed using the thermostatic shaker ST-3 and strip immunoassay analyzer Stat Fax 303 Plus. Also we used commercial test systems VetExpert CAV Ag and Feline VacciCheck ImmunoComb ® , based on the immuno-chromatographic method. During clinical studies of 491 animals (268 cats and 223 dogs) it was found that the most common respiratory viral infections in cats were calicivirus infection and rhinotracheitis, while in dogs there were viral diseases of gastrointestinal tract, i.e. enteritis and hepatitis. Using IHA method, we revealed the antibodies to respiratory viruses in the blood of deseased cats: to calicivirus – in 95 cats, to rhinotracheitis – in 60 cats; by ELISA method we identified antigens of parvovirus, enteritis pathogen, in biological material of 61 dogs, by IHA we found antibodies to virus of infectious hepatitis in 49 individuals. Based on these data, it has been revealed that during the winter months the animals suffered mostly the respiratory viral infections (60%), and in spring there were increased occur-rence of enteritis, observed in all age groups of animals. From May, hepatitis started to appear and prevailed for all summer months, mixed with enteritis (about 50% of total number of cases). Hepatitis was recorded both in cats and dogs. By the fall, recurrence was observed for calicivirus and herpes virus infections in cats, and the cases of enteritis decreased, while hepatitis was recorded until mid-October. Such statistics is kept relatively constant. The research results can be applied in the practice of veterinary laboratories for the development of diagnostic measures and prevention of viral diseases in domestic animals, as well as in the prediction of dissemination of viral infections in animals in the near future.