Prevalence of Canine parvovirus (CPV) in diarrheic dogs referred to veterinary hospital in Ahvaz

This study was performed to determine the prevalence of Canine parvovirus (CPV) in dogs referred to Veterinary Hospital of Ahvaz, Khouzestan province, Iran. Fecal samples were collected from 78 diarrheic dogs between 2005 and 2007. The dogs were divided into two age groups ( 6 months and 6 months), four different breeds (Terriers, Germanshepherds, Doberman pinschers and Mixed) and another two groups on the basis of clinical signs (hemorrhagic and non-hemorrhagic diarrhea) using Fischer s exact test. Prevalence to CPV (2a or 2b) antigens in these dogs was 16.7% (13 of 78) by means of immunochromatography assay (IC) indicating that this virus is present in ecosystem. The infection had more prevalence in dogs less than 6 months (21.95%; 9 of 41) and in breeds of Terriers (26.31%; 5 of 19) and German Shepherds (21%; 4 of 19), but there were no significant differences between different sexes, age groups and breeds (P 0.05). Nevertheless, infection was significantly higher in hemorrhagic diarrheic dogs (41.38%; 12 of 29) (p 0.05). CBC showed that most infected dogs had leucopenia, lymphopenia and neutropenia.