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MyFairLacy · 02-12-2009, 03:02 PM

herpes virus

From:
STRESS, INFERTILITY AND HERPES INFECTION
Mary C. Wakeman, D.V.M.
Ashford Animal Clinic
Canine Fertility Center
Ashford, CT

If stresses are avoided, most bitches have no problem in subsequent breedings.
Nearly all dogs with any doggy contacts at all have been exposed to Herpes. It is not just or primarily a venereal disease. It is not usually or necessarily contracted through the breeding. It is usually contracted through exposure to the respiratory aerosols of other dogs. The very short-term immunity a new exposure may confer fades quickly, leaving the dog open to repeat infection as well as to dormant infections re-surfacing. In fact, it would be very hard to say that any repeat of the infection came from a dormant infection instead of a new exposure to high levels of infective particles. Just going to the stud dog’s premises can be enough to expose the bitch; if there are frequent visiting bitches to the kennel, new infections may be brought with them. If the stud dog or his kennel mates are showing or training, he may be shedding high levels of particles. It is simply not possible to avoid this virus in the dog’s environment. But it is possible to limit that exposure; if going to the stud dog, don’t travel by air, and stay in a motel with the bitch rather than leaving her at the stud’s kennel. If going to a dog show, completely change clothes and wash before encountering any bred bitches at home. If training or showing kennel mates, isolate her from them and perform her ‘chores’ before doing theirs, always going from "clean to dirty".

The most susceptible bitch of all, however, will be the one that lives in a pet home and has not had routine exposure to other dogs or the virus. Such a bitch upon being exposed to the virus will be more seriously affected that a bitch with routine exposure to low levels of the virus.

A stud dog bred to an infected bitch may or may not be infected, either as the animal which passed the infection to the bitch or as a recipient of an acute infection she was harboring when he bred her. Herpes testing at the time of breeding is meaningless, since almost all individuals in the bitch’s environment may be in various phases of acquiring or recovering from infection. It bears repeating here, that the respiratory infection is very mild and rarely ever shows actual clinical signs in adult dogs. Only paired serum samples taken at different times to detect a rising (becoming infected ) titer, or a falling ( recovering from an infection) titer, can tell us anything. Obviously the information generated in this way will be too late to be of use at the time of breeding. The usefulness of these paired titers is seen chiefly as a tool to identify if a bitch has lost her litter due to Herpes after the fact. We can rule Herpes in or out as one of the several options for causes of litter resorbtion, or still born or sickly neonates.

The best rule to follow is that a kennel with an active show schedule, a stud dog which is being shown or trained, a boarding kennel, or a kennel where breedings are frequent, so that visiting bitches are frequently on the premises is likely to harbor infective particles. The worst shedders however, will be pet dogs newly exposed to a heavily trafficed environment, such as a boarding kennel. These dogs will be more seriously affected and will shed more virus particles. A visiting bitch staying in a kennel where susceptible pets are passing through will likely be more at risk than in visiting a show kennel, where all the dogs will have some resistance at all times, and shedding will be at lower levels.

02-12-2009, 03:02 PM	#13
MyFairLacy Donating YT 10K Club Member Join Date: Jun 2007 Location: DFW, Texas Posts: 11,003	Another article herpes virus From: STRESS, INFERTILITY AND HERPES INFECTION Mary C. Wakeman, D.V.M. Ashford Animal Clinic Canine Fertility Center Ashford, CT If stresses are avoided, most bitches have no problem in subsequent breedings. Nearly all dogs with any doggy contacts at all have been exposed to Herpes. It is not just or primarily a venereal disease. It is not usually or necessarily contracted through the breeding. It is usually contracted through exposure to the respiratory aerosols of other dogs. The very short-term immunity a new exposure may confer fades quickly, leaving the dog open to repeat infection as well as to dormant infections re-surfacing. In fact, it would be very hard to say that any repeat of the infection came from a dormant infection instead of a new exposure to high levels of infective particles. Just going to the stud dog’s premises can be enough to expose the bitch; if there are frequent visiting bitches to the kennel, new infections may be brought with them. If the stud dog or his kennel mates are showing or training, he may be shedding high levels of particles. It is simply not possible to avoid this virus in the dog’s environment. But it is possible to limit that exposure; if going to the stud dog, don’t travel by air, and stay in a motel with the bitch rather than leaving her at the stud’s kennel. If going to a dog show, completely change clothes and wash before encountering any bred bitches at home. If training or showing kennel mates, isolate her from them and perform her ‘chores’ before doing theirs, always going from "clean to dirty". The most susceptible bitch of all, however, will be the one that lives in a pet home and has not had routine exposure to other dogs or the virus. Such a bitch upon being exposed to the virus will be more seriously affected that a bitch with routine exposure to low levels of the virus. A stud dog bred to an infected bitch may or may not be infected, either as the animal which passed the infection to the bitch or as a recipient of an acute infection she was harboring when he bred her. Herpes testing at the time of breeding is meaningless, since almost all individuals in the bitch’s environment may be in various phases of acquiring or recovering from infection. It bears repeating here, that the respiratory infection is very mild and rarely ever shows actual clinical signs in adult dogs. Only paired serum samples taken at different times to detect a rising (becoming infected ) titer, or a falling ( recovering from an infection) titer, can tell us anything. Obviously the information generated in this way will be too late to be of use at the time of breeding. The usefulness of these paired titers is seen chiefly as a tool to identify if a bitch has lost her litter due to Herpes after the fact. We can rule Herpes in or out as one of the several options for causes of litter resorbtion, or still born or sickly neonates. The best rule to follow is that a kennel with an active show schedule, a stud dog which is being shown or trained, a boarding kennel, or a kennel where breedings are frequent, so that visiting bitches are frequently on the premises is likely to harbor infective particles. The worst shedders however, will be pet dogs newly exposed to a heavily trafficed environment, such as a boarding kennel. These dogs will be more seriously affected and will shed more virus particles. A visiting bitch staying in a kennel where susceptible pets are passing through will likely be more at risk than in visiting a show kennel, where all the dogs will have some resistance at all times, and shedding will be at lower levels. __________________ ~Magnifique Yorkies~ Purchasing from backyard breeders, pet shops, and puppymills perpetuates the suffering of other dogs. Educate yourself and buy from reputable breeders or rescue.