List of dog diseases No1

This list of dog diseases is a continuously updated selection of diseases and other conditions found in the dog. Some of these diseases are unique to dogs or closely related species, while others are found in other animals, including humans.
Not all of the articles listed here contain information specific to dogs.

Animal Infections Rabies (hydrophobia) is a fatal viral disease that can affect any mammal, although the close relationship of dogs with humans makes canine rabies a zoonotic concern.
Vaccination of dogs for rabies is commonly required by law.

1.Canine parvovirus type 2 (CPV2, colloquially parvo) is a contagious virus mainly affecting dogs.
The disease is highly contagious and is spread from dog to dog by direct or indirect contact with their feces.

It can be especially severe in puppies that are not protected by maternal antibodies or vaccination. It has two distinct presentations, a cardiac and intestinal form. The common signs of the intestinal form are severe vomiting and dysentery.

The cardiac form causes respiratory or cardiovascular failure in young puppies. Treatment often involves veterinary hospitalization. Vaccines can prevent this infection, but mortality can reach 91% in untreated cases. Canine parvovirus will not infect humans.

Dogs that develop the disease show symptoms of the illness within 3 to 10 days. The symptoms include lethargy, vomiting, fever, and diarrhea (usually bloody). Diarrhea and vomiting result in dehydration and secondary infections can set in.

Due to dehydration, the dog's electrolyte balance can become critically affected. Because the normal intestinal lining is also compromised, blood and protein leak into the intestines leading to anemia and loss of protein, and endotoxins escaping into the bloodstream, causing endotoxemia.

Dogs have a distinctive odor in the later stages of the infection. The white blood cell level falls, further weakening the dog. Any or all of these factors can lead to shock and death. The first sign of CPV is lethargy. Usually the second symptoms would be loss of appetite or diarrhea followed by vomiting.

Diagnosis is made through detection of CPV2 in the feces by either an EIA or a hemagglutination test, or by electron microscopy. PCR has become available to diagnose CPV2, and can be used later in the disease when potentially less virus is being shed in the feces that may not be detectable by EIA.

Clinically, the intestinal form of the infection can sometimes be confused with coronavirus or other forms of enteritis. Parvovirus, however, is more serious and the presence of bloody diarrhea, a low white blood cell count, and necrosis of the intestinal lining also point more towards parvovirus, especially in an unvaccinated dog.
The cardiac form is typically easier to diagnose because the symptoms are distinct.

2.Canine coronavirus is a virus of the family Coronaviridae that causes a highly contagious intestinal disease worldwide in dogs.

It was discovered in 1971 in Germany during an outbreak in sentry dogs.

The virus invades and replicates in the villi of the small intestine. Intestinal disease may be related to virus-induced apoptosis (programmed cell death) of cells of the epithelial mucosa of the small intestine.

Canine coronavirus was originally thought to cause serious gastrointestinal disease, but now most cases are considered to be very mild or without symptoms.

A more serious complication of canine coronavirus occurs when the dog is also infected with canine parvovirus. Coronavirus infection of the intestinal villi makes the cells more susceptible to parvovirus infection.

This causes a much more severe disease than either virus can separately. However, fatal intestinal disease associated with canine coronavirus without the presence of canine parvovirus is still occasionally reported. This may be related to the high mutation rate of RNA positive stranded viruses, of which canine coronavirus is one.

The incubation period is only one to three days. The disease is highly contagious and is spread through the feces of infected dogs, who usually shed the virus for six to nine days, but sometimes for six months following infection.

Symptoms include diarrhea, vomiting, and anorexia. Diagnosis is through detection of virus particles in the feces. Treatment usually only requires medication for diarrhea, but more severely affected dogs may require intravenous fluids for dehydration. Fatalities are rare.

The virus is destroyed by most available disinfectants.
There is a vaccine available (ATCvet code: QI07AD11), and it is usually given to puppies, who are more susceptible to canine coronavirus, and to dogs that have a high risk of exposure, such as show dogs.

source : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_dog_diseases