Clinical courses and neurological signs of canine distemper virus infection in dogs

Independent of the occurrence of neuropathological lesions, nervous infection by canine distemper virus (CDV) may lead to a variety of neurological signs observed singly or in combination; these signs include behavioral changes, focal to generalized seizures, cerebellar and vestibular signs, visual deficits, paresis and paralysis, tremors and limb weakness, myoclonus, and signs of leptomeningitis such as cervical rigidity and generalized hyperesthesia. The clinical neurology of CDV infection covers many areas and the neurological signs are diverse. The authors have been working with both conventional and non-conventional neurological presentations of distemper in dogs for years, and in this mini-review different clinical courses and neurological signs of nervous distemper will be presented and discussed.