Clinical history

• Typically:
• young dog
• unvaccinated
• stray
• must be distinguished from kennel cough if only mild respiratory signs are seen.

Laboratory diagnosis

• The virus is difficult to grow from clinical cases, and isolation is rarely used in routine cases. The best sample to take for attempted isolation from acute cases is heparinised blood from which primary lymphocyte and macrophage cells containing virus can be cultured.
• Serology is generally unhelpful as so many healthy dogs have antibody (due to vaccination or previous infection) and by the time clinical signs develop the antibody titre has already peaked so there is usually no sign of a rising titre.
• Some laboratories use an immunofluorescence test on acetone-fixed smears of conjunctiva, tonsil or buffy coat for diagnosis of acute cases.
• A definitive diagnosis is most easily made post mortem.
• Eosinophilic inclusions can be seen in lymphoid and epithelial tissues (especially bladder and respiratory mucosa).
• Immunostaining can be useful for identifying infected tissues.

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