title: Determination and phylogenetic analysis of canine distemper virus in dogs with nervous symptoms in Turkey.
abstract: In the present study, canine distemper virus (CDV) was investigated in 20 dogs having nervous signs arousing the clinical suspicion of canine distemper (CD). A total of 13 animals (65%) were stray dogs and had no accurate record about the vaccination history. Clinical examinations revealed that the majority (85%) of the animals showed systemic form characterised by predominantly nervous symptoms accompanied by mild respiratory system signs whilst the remaining cases (15%) recorded mainly respiratory distress. CDV RNA was detected by reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) only in 45% of the suspected cases. Phylogenetic analysis of partial nucleotide sequence of the P gene coding region revealed that the virus is closely related to European strains. Immune responses in 13 cases (65%), which were detected by dot-ELISA, indicated inefficient levels for neutralising functions against CDV. It was postulated that this response could have been mediated by either previous vaccination or mild infection with field strains.
authors.affiliation: Department of Virology, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Ankara University, Diskapi, 06110 Ankara, Turkey. ozkul@veterinary.ankara.edu.tr
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Ozkul
authors.forename: A Arda
authors.initials: AA
authors.lastname: Sancak
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Güngör
authors.forename: I
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Burgu
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D004216:Distemper / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000821:virology*; D004217:Distemper Virus, Canine / Q000235:genetics* / Q000302:isolation & purification; D004283:Dog Diseases / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000821:virology*; D004285:Dogs; D004797:Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay / Q000662:veterinary; D005260:Female; D008297:Male; D010802:Phylogeny; D012367:RNA, Viral / Q000032:analysis; D020133:Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction / Q000662:veterinary; D014421:Turkey / Q000453:epidemiology
chemical_list: D012367:RNA, Viral