Recent epidemiological status of canine viral enteric infections and Giardia infection in Japan.

Epidemiology of canine enteric infections was studied. Rectal swabs collected from 95 dogs presented at animal hospitals during a period from January to June of 2000 were examined for enteric pathogens, including viruses and Giardia lamblia (G. lamblia). Most frequently detected in both diarrheal and normal feces were canine coronavirus (55.4%) and G. lamblia (48.2%). Canine parvovirus type 2 (CPV-2) was specifically associated with diarrheal cases and CPV-2b was the predominant antigenic type. Although canine rotavirus, canine adenovirus, and canine distemper virus were also detected in a small number of diarrheal cases, no evidence for calicivirus infection was obtained.