Distribution of Antibody Titers to CPV-2 Among Dogs of Various Age-Groups and Locations in Kosovo

Abstract

Blood samples were taken from 124 unvaccinated, clinically healthy dogs of different ages (from 6 to 156 months). Serum samples were tested by using hemagglutination inhibition (HI) test and the tests were performed at the Institute of Food Safety and Veterinary (ISUV), Tirana, Albania. Titers of HI antibodies to CPV-2 varied from 0 to 1:2048. Out of 124 dogs tested, 96 (77.42%) had HI titers of 1:16 or greater (a criteria that established the positivity) and 28 of them had HI titers less than 1:16 that meant a negative result. The seroprevalence in communities of Kamenica, Rahovec, Peja, Prishtina and Prizren was 78.0%, 76.5%, 64.2%, 75.0% and 100%, respectively. It showed a high prevalence of CPV-2 antibodies in each community involved in the study as well as that at the nation level 96 (77.42%). Such a finding indicates that the prevalence of anti-CPV-2 antibodies is high, and as a consequence, the CPV-2 itself is widespread all over the country. Dogs that were studied were divided into five different groups of ages; 1) 6-12 months old, 30 of the total of which 19 (63.34%) were positive and 11 (36.7%) were negative; 2) > 12-24 months old, 34 of the total, from whom 26(76.47%) were positive and 8 (23.53%) were negative; 3) >24-48 months old, 44 of the total, from whom 36 (81.8%) were positive and 8 (18.2%) were negative; 4) >48-96 months old, 13 of them in total of which 12 (92.3%) were positive and 1 (7.7%) was negative and finally 5) >96 months old, 3 of the total, 3 (100%) were positive.The older the age group, the higher rate of dogs having HI antibody titers was the result. Keywords: dogs, syndrome, dog breeds, Illyrian shepherd, English setters, German shepherd, Belgian shepherd and Pekingese, HI titers, CPV-2, age-groups, etc.