An atypical clinical presentation for the first isolation of Canid herpesvirus 1 in Argentina

Canid herpesvirus 1 (CaHV-1) is a Varicellovirus of the subfamily Alphaherpesvirinae, family Herpesviridae, and order Herpesvirales, with a host range restricted to domestic and wild canids (Remond et al., 1996). CaHV-1 was first recognized as the agent responsible for causing a highly fatal hemorrhagic viral disease in newborn puppies in 1965. Apart from being an important disease in newborn puppies, CaHV-1 also affects reproduction of dogs in other ways: the virus may cause vesicular lesions in the vestibulum and vagina of the bitch, as well as on the penis and the preputial mucosa of dogs and may cause embryonic resorption, abortion, and fetal death (Carmichael, 1970). In addition, the virus is associated with respiratory (kennel cough syndrome) and ocular disease in dogs (Erles and Brownlie, 2005; Ledbetter et al., 2009). Oronasal and venereal transmission are the common routes of infection but transplacental infection has also been described. Lesions in the vestibulum and vagina of bitches may recur when bitches come into pro-estrus and regress when they go into anestrus (Carmichael, 1970; Hashimoto et al., 1982). Affected animals may remain latent carriers and the virus was identified in the lumbosacral ganglia, tonsils, parotid salivary glands, and liver of dogs that showed no sign of herpesvirus infection (Burr et al., 1996). Several studies suggest that CaHV-1 is enzootic in the