Changes

On post-mortem examination, the thymus is often found to be greatly reduced in size and gelatinous in young dogs. There is patchy consolidation of the lungs due to interstitial pneumonia, and signs of catarrhal enteritis may be present. Mucopurlent discharges are commonly seen from the eyed and nose and bronchopneumonis is sometimes present. Skin pustules and hyperkeratosis of the footpads and nose are seen occasionally.

On post-mortem examination, the thymus is often found to be greatly reduced in size and gelatinous in young dogs. There is patchy consolidation of the lungs due to interstitial pneumonia, and signs of catarrhal enteritis may be present. Mucopurlent discharges are commonly seen from the eyed and nose and bronchopneumonis is sometimes present. Skin pustules and hyperkeratosis of the footpads and nose are seen occasionally.

Microscopic lesions are widespread in organs and the brain. Characteristic viral inclusion bodies are commonly found in brain, lung, stomach, and urinary bladder.

Microscopically, eosinophilic intracytoplasmic inclusion bodies are often found in the bronchial, gastric and urinary epithelium. They may also be seen in leukocytes and lympoid tissue. In the CNS, inclusion bodies are frequently intra-nuclear in neurons and glial cells. Demyelination may also be seen. When inclusion bodies are not seen, fluorescent antibody staining or immunohistochemistry may be used to detect canine distemper virus.

 

**Intracytoplasmic inclusions may be found in most affected tissues

**Inclusions persist longest in the brain (may be intranuclear) and the alveolar macrophages

**Sections of fixed bronchial tissue, lung, macrophages, bladder may be used or nasal or conjunctival epithelium from live animals

*Giant cells may be seen in the alveol

* Microscopic lesions of demyelination in the cerebellum and characteristic inclusion bodies in various tissues are diagnostically significant. The inclusions are primarily intranuclear in the brain and intracytoplasmic in other tissues.

 

*Although many organs can be affected by CDV, a relatively constant feature is the respiratory signs which occur in varying severity

*A syndrome of catharral oculonasal discharge, [[Nasopharynx Inflammatory - Pathology#Infectious causes of pharyngitis|pharyngitis]] and [[Bronchi and Bronchioles Inflammatory - Pathology#Infectious causes of bronchitis or bronchiolitis|bronchitis]] is relatively common in the initial stages

*Since one of the primary sites of action of this virus is lymphoid tissue, the resultant immunosuppression -> predisposition to secondary bacterial infection

==Treatment==

==Treatment==