Clinical signs may vary from the very slight to the severe …
From Scott Nimmo – vetblog uk.
Canine Infectious Hepatitis is one of the diseases you can vaccinate against, again I saw this disease rarely in South Woodham but we know the reason for that, there is a high uptake of dog vaccination there.
Cause : This disease is viral in origin, the organism responsible is canine adenovirus 1.Contact with urine, faeces, or saliva of infected dogs is the main way that this disease is spread. This disease tends to be seen in younger dogs and puppies though dogs of any age are susceptible.
Clinical signs : Clinical signs may vary from the very slight to the severe, sometimes the body’s own immune system kicks in and rapidly defeats the disease, that is why some dogs only experience very minor signs. the same thing would apply to both distemper and parvo. Signs would be lethargy, anorexia, thirst, conjunctivitis, discharge from the eyes and nose, abdominal pain and vomiting. haemorrhage of the oral mucosa, as well as enlarged tonsils, may be seen, and more generalised hemorrhage is possible, there may also be swelling of the head and neck. Diagnosis may be confirmed by virus isolation but this is not a test most vets would be able to carry out in house. A feature of this disease which can occur is blue eye, that is corneal opacity which develops about 7-10 days after the dog enters the recovery phase. this would tend to confirm the diagnosis.
Treatment : As this is a viral disease there is no specific ” magic bullet ” you have to rely on symptomatic treatment to aid the body’s immune system to stage a fight back. Treatment would include fluid therapy, broad spectrum antibiotics, and a high standard of nursing care. Blood transfusion would be of value in some cases as would treatment of the eye lesions.
Prevention : Vaccination.
The above is a concise description of the disease. When I was younger I kept pet foxes and treated wild ones, I found that infectious hepatitis is quite prevalent in the fox population in the UK. In this species it tends to affect the brain and cause fits and convulsions as well as the above symptoms listed for the domestic dog. The brain can be affected in the dog but this is rare. It may be that the fox is a reservoir of infection for the domestic dog in the UK, also the symptoms are very like rabies which would be of concern if rabies ever entered the UK and got into the fox population ……
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