UConn Rearchers ID Dog Disease New To Connecticut

STORRS, CT — A disease affecting dogs — Canine Circovirus — has been pinpointed for the first time in the state by University of Connecticut researchers.

Investigators at the Connecticut Veterinary Medical Diagnostic Laboratory, or CVMDL, at UConn recently reported a new canine disease, identified for the first time in New England. The reserchers represent the same group and laboratory that recently reported eastern equine encephalomyelitis in horses and birds and earlier recognized epizootic hemorrhagic disease in deer (September 2017) and West Nile encephalitis in crows (2001).

The published case report in the September 2019 edition of the Journal of Veterinary Diagnostic Investigation documents the death of a 5-month-old dog that "originated" in Mississippi, was shelter-housed in Texas for a time, and then was "delivered" for adoption in Connecticut.

According to the researchers, the disease was characterized by severe bloody gastroenteritis and rapid progression to death. An autopsy was followed by electron microscopy and exam using molecular techniques that "demonstrated a circovirus as the cause of disease and death."

"First recognized in California in 2013, the appearance of canine circovirus disease in New England, in dogs shuttled among shelters, raises concerns for dog owners and veterinarians," researchers said.

They concluded, "At this time, it is hard to know if this disease will spread, like parvovirus disease in the 1980s, or remain sporadic."

A UConn spokeswoman added, "We'll have to see if it spreads at all, that will determine how serious it becomes."

The CVMDL is part of the Department of Pathobiology in UConn’s College of Agriculture, Health and Natural Resources.