Investigations on viral aetiology of diarrhea in puppies.

In this research, the role of Canine Parvovirus-2 (CPV-2), Canine Corona Virus (CCoV), Canine Distemper Virus (CDV) and Canine Rotavirus (CRV) were investigated as an aetiological agent in diarrheic puppies. For that purpose, faeces sampled from 90 diarrheic puppies were evaluated for CPV-2 by hemagglütination reaction and for CCoV genom by reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (PCR). Twenty five of these samples were tested for the presence of CDV genome by RT- PCR and for the presence of CRV genomic segments by polyacrilamide gel electrophoresis (PAGE). On the other hand faeces from 14 puppies with respiratory and enteric symptoms were also tested for CDV. All of animals sampled were aged between 0-4 months old. Thirty two (35.5%) among 90 samples were positive for CPV-2, and 14 (15.5) samples were positive for CCoV genome. None of these samples had cross positivity for both viruses. Out of 39 samples tested for CDV, 15 (38.4%) were positive for CDV genom. There was no faecal sample containing CRV genomic segments. Results of this study demonstrate that CPV-2 is the most prevalent viral agent in clinical diarrhea cases of puppies, and is followed by CCoV and CDV virus. It can be clearly said that, these three viruses were at least related to 58.6% of diarrhea cases in the age group investigated