Raised with experimental cats in the same room, a 4-month-old puppy suffered suddenly from emesis, bloody diarrhea, and intense leukopenia, and died 3 days after the onset of disease. Histopathological examination revealed extensive necrosis and desquamation of the mucosal epithelia, and hemorrhage in the muous cmembrane of the small and large intestines, a decrease in number of hematopoietic cells of the bone marrow, and marked atrophy of the splenic follicles.
A virus was isolated from the kidney. It had formed large intranuclear inclusion bodies in fibroblasts of the feline lung. It was identified as parvovirus from its serological and biological properties. Cats and dogs kept in the same room with the dead puppy manifested a high HI antibody titer. When inoculated orally with the isolated virus, healthy dogs or cats showed no signs, except mild leukopenia.
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