984 
ANIMAL DISEASES 
PERCENT MORBIDITY AND MORTALITY OF 2160 DOGS, BY STAGE OF QUARANTINE 
1969 
55- 54.4 
50 
45 
40 
35 
30 
25 
20 
15 
10 
5 
I I Morbidity 
^Mortality 
. 15 
m oiJJ. 
2 3 4 5 
STAGE OF QUARANTINE.WEEKS 
Figure 3. 
OVER 6 
gins with a serous nasal discharge with or with- 
out sneezing and coughing. The discharge 
becomes purulent within 24 to 48 hours and 
coughing becomes more severe. The course of 
the condition is not highly predictable ; animals 
may rapidly develop severe pulmonary involve- 
ment and die suddenly from massive hemor- 
rhagic pneumonia or may progress slowly to 
chronic pneumonia and either die or recover 
after a prolonged convalescence. Response to 
medication is inconsistent. Antibiotics are 
beneficial in some cases. A variety of antibiot- 
ics, parenteral vitamins, fluids, and forced feed- 
ing are used with variable results. Whole blood 
transfusions have proven beneficial in some 
chronic cases. 
The etiology of respiratory diseases in ran- 
dom source dogs is not easily classified. Dogs 
are exposed to a variety of agents between the 
time that they are acquired by the animal dealer 
and their delivery to the research laboratory. 
The combination of factors, including the expo- 
sure to pathogens, stress, and the immunologi- 
cal status of individual dogs is believed to be 
related to the incidence and severity of the dis- 
eases seen during the conditioning period. For 
example, in 1969, pathological and microbiologi- 
cal examinations were made on tissues from 30 
random source dogs which were killed at 
various stages of clinical illness. Gross lesions 
consisting of congestion, hemorrhage, and red 
and grey hepitization were observed in the 
lungs of 15 dogs. The following organisms 
were isolated from the group: Streptococcus 
zooepidemicus (11 dogs), Bordetella bronchio- 
septicus (6 dogs), Klebsiella spp (4 dogs). 
Staphylococcus sp (2 dogs), Pseudomonas aeru^ 
ginosa (2 dogs), and alpha hemolytic strepto- 
coctus (1 dog) . Two or more species of bacteria 
were isolated from the lungs of each of 4 dogs 
and isolations were made from 8 lungs which 
appeared grossly normal. 
While several of the organisms listed above 
have been isolated by others from the lungs of 
dogs which died from bronchopneumonia, their 
roles were considered secondary to predisposing 
factors, such as primary viral disease, malnu- 
trition, and exposure.*' This is believed to be the 
case with quarantined random source dogs. 
Canine distemper virus (CDV), infectious ca- 
nine hepatitis virus (ICHV), and canine her- 
pesvirus have been isolated from the tissues of 
unconditioned random source dogs.'' Isolates 
from 25 dogs, examined immediately after col- 
lection included ICHV (2 dogs) and CDV (10 
dogs). ICHV was isolated from 7 and herpes- 
virus from 1 of 30 ill dogs examined after 1 to 6 
weeks of quarantine. CDV and ICHV were iso- 
lated from both unimmunized dogs and dogs 
which had received modified live distemper-hep- 
atitis vaccine 1 to 6 weeks prior to culturing. 
These and other viral agents probably play a 
role in the incidence of respiratory disease 
among random source dogs. However, canine 
distemper and infectious canine hepatitis are 
rarely recognized as clinical diseases within the 
quarantine colony. 
Enteric parasites are not recognized as a pri- 
mary cause of clinical disease in the NIH dog 
quarantine colony. More than 75 percent of un- 
conditioned random source dogs accepted for 
quarantine harbor one or more species of hook- 
worms, roundworms, whipworms or tape- 
worms. Prior to January 1, 1970, all dogs were 
routinely treated with dichlorvos. Currently, 
anthelminthics are prescribed on an individual 
basis for animals shedding parasite ova. 
Coccidia occasionally cause enteritis in adult 
dogs, but the incidence of clinical disease in the 
quarantine colony is low when compared with 
the prevalence of oocyst shedding. The organ- 
isms are apparently wide-spread in the colony 
despite the level of sanitation maintained. A 
study of 155 dogs in 1969 revealed that 12.9 
percent of the dogs were shedding oocysts at 
