2023-04-25 18:11:16
The distemper virus was recently detected in a dead fox in the district of Weißenburg-Gunzenhausen (Franconia). The virus can be life-threatening for foxes and dogs. We have summarized everything you need to know about the distemper virus below.
What is distemper?
Distemper is a viral disease that belongs to the paramyxovirus family and is therefore related to the human measles virus. This explains the AniCura group of companies, which specializes internationally in veterinary care, on their portal. The disease can affect domestic dogs as well as other carnivores such as the fox, wolf, dingo, coyote, jackal, ferret, mink, weasel, raccoon and seal. Domestic cats can also become infected, but show no symptoms.
According to the Federal Association for Animal Health, the incubation period of the distemper virus – i.e. the time between infection and the first symptoms of the disease – lasts about three to seven days. As the association writes, there are three types of distemper. intestinal distemper, pulmonary distemper and nerve distemper.
Distemper in dogs: These symptoms are typical
The first signs of illness can be fever, lethargy and weakness. In addition, animals often refuse to eat. While intestinal distemper leads to intestinal inflammation including diarrhea and vomiting, pulmonary distemper is first detected by the discharge from the eyes or nose. The inflammation spreads from the dog’s nose and throat via the bronchi to the lungs. “Coughing and breathing difficulties are the result. Often an infection with bacteria grafts onto the damaged mucous membrane and aggravates the course of the disease,” warns the federal association.
However, the most feared and most dangerous for the animals is nerve distemper. According to the Federal Association for Animal Health, it is the most common of the three forms. She has convulsive convulsions (distemper tic), movement disorders and paralysis. These symptoms are extremely difficult to treat and often result in the dog having to be euthanized.
Transmission of distemper: dogs, foxes and humans
According to the AniCura website, the dangerous distemper virus can survive for up to 14 hours in sunlight, or even a few days indoors or on contaminated clothing. High temperatures could kill the virus quickly, as could most disinfectants. However, cold temperatures between 0 and 4 degrees favored the virus, so that it remained capable of surviving for up to several weeks.
Infection and transmission of distemper can occur in several ways, since infected animals excrete the virus through secretions and excretions. These include:
- saliva
- eye and nasal discharge
- cough and sneeze
- Urine
- Like
- vomit
If young dogs become infected while teething, so-called “enamel defects” can occur – and thus “distemper teeth”.
As the Federal Association for Animal Health writes, infection can occur from dog to dog, but a human can also be involved if the virus sticks to shoes or clothing. An infection can also occur when walking in the woods when dogs come into contact with the faeces of animals suffering from distemper, such as a fox.
Dogs of all ages that do not have sufficient immunity to distemper are at risk, especially young animals. “Puppies between the ages of 3 and 6 months are usually particularly affected,” says the AniCura website.
Dog suffering from distemper – life expectancy and late effects
Canine distemper is life-threatening and often fatal. However, not always, as the state investigation office of Rhineland-Palatinate writes in a statement. The infection with distemper is then often responsible for the fact that the animal is so severely weakened that it becomes significantly more susceptible to other diseases.
As AniCura writes, the course of the disease is largely dependent on the immune response of the infected dog. A weak immune response often leads to death. But: “If the animal survives the acute phase, neurological symptoms often appear later.” These then expressed themselves in the so-called “distemper tick”. These seizures can sometimes take on the severity of epilepsy.
Distemper: Vaccination against the dangerous virus
Up until the 1960s, distemper virus was considered the deadliest viral infection in dogs. From that time, however, a vaccination for dogs was developed. According to the Paul Ehrlich Institute, five vaccines are approved in Germany that can be used to vaccinate dogs against distemper.
Vaccinations offer dogs the best protection against distemper. At best, dogs should be vaccinated against distemper, hepatitis and other diseases with a combination vaccine in the eighth week of life. The vaccination should be repeated after 12 weeks. According to the recommendations of the Standing Vaccination Committee, the basic immunization includes further vaccinations in the 15th/16th week of life and then around the 15th month of life. Thereafter, the vaccination against distemper, hepatitis and parvovirus should be refreshed every three years.
Distemper: Can humans become infected and become ill?
Like professor dr. Jürgen Schneider-Schaulies from the Institute for Virology and Immunobiology at the University of Würzburg and his colleagues found in an earlier article that no case has been reported of distemper being transmitted from a dog to a human. Despite its relationship to the human measles virus, the virus is therefore not dangerous to humans.
Incidentally, found animals are no longer a rarity these days. But anyone who abandons animals must expect high penalties.
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