Retrospective study of canine parvoviral enteritis in Veterinary Teaching Hospitals in south east, Nigeria

Abstract

Canine parvoviral enteritis (CPE) is endemic disease of dogs younger than six months of age and immune compromised adult dogs. A retrospective study was conducted on tentatively diagnosed cases of CPE from clinical case records of dogs presented to Veterinary Teaching Hospitals, in South East, Nigeria for a period of 10 years (2011 – 2020). A total of 1647 dog cases were reviewed with overall prevalence of 117 (7.1 %). Age, sex and breed did not show any association with the occurrence of CPE, while vaccination, survivability, location, year, month and season showed association with the occurrence of CPE. High prevalence was recorded in 2018 (13.1 %), 2019 (9.0 %) and 2020 (13.9 %), while the low prevalence was recorded in 2011 (1.3 %), 2013 (5.8 %) and 2015 (4.6 %). High prevalence was observed during the dry season months of January and February, while the wet season months of September and October had low prevalence. Boerboel, Caucassian and Toy breed were the most frequently affected. It was concluded that CPE is endemic in South Eastern Nigeria with all year round occurrence and unvaccinated dogs and puppies were more at risk. Aggressive vaccination of dogs with homologous vaccine containing the field strain is highly recommended for complete protection.