Abstract
The usefulness of determining canine parvovirus (CPV) and canine adenovirus (CAV) antibody titers as parameters for the interfusion of blood components into cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) (reference antibodies) for the serological diagnosis of canine distemper encephalitis (CDE) was studied. The ratio of the “serum titer/CSF titer (S/C)" value for the CPV antibody to that for the CAV antibody was 2 : 1, 1 : 1, or 1 : 2 in 30 dogs examined, which was within an acceptable measurement error range, suggesting that similar results could be obtained with either of the two reference antibodies. In 29 dogs with neurologic signs, in which the S/C values for the canine distemper virus (CDV) antibody were lower than 256, a diagnostic criterion for CDE, only one showed an S/C value for CDV antibody lower than that for the reference antibody (1 : 8) and was diagnosed with CDE. The remaining 28 dogs showed ratios of an S/C value for the CDV antibody to that for the reference antibody within the measurement error range. Accordingly, these dogs were not diagnosed with CDE. On the basis of these findings, it was shown that examination of the CDV antibody alone increases the risk of misdiagnosis of CDE.
