Cardiac Arrhythmia Associated with Canine Distemper

Abstract

Canine distemper virus (CDV) is a pantropic morbillivirus  responsible for acute and highly infectious viral  diseases in both domestic dogs and wild carnivores. As  a multisystemic disease, CDV affects various systems,  including the respiratory, gastrointestinal, urogenital, ocular  and nervous systems. The clinical presentation is highly  variable, making diagnosis challenging based solely on  symptoms. Clinical signs in affected dogs include catarrhal  respiratory and gastrointestinal disorders, alterations of the  skin, and central nervous system (CNS) disease (Beineke  et al., 2009). The latter most commonly presents as canine  distemper virus induced demyelinating leukoencephalitis  (CDV-DL). Morphologically, and especially in terms of  immunopathological processes, glial responses and evidence  of early axonal degeneration, CDV-DL shares certain  characteristics with other demyelinating diseases, such as  multiple sclerosis (MS) in humans and its experimental animal  models (Ulrich et al., 2014). Among the potential clinical  signs, vagal nerve involvement, leading to bradycardia, was  observed in this case, providing an additional diagnostic  consideration for CDV-related complications.