Prevention of renal infection and urinary shedding in dogs by a Leptospira vaccination.

Prevention of urinary shedding of Leptospira interrogans spp. by chronically infected dogs remains a key objective of the vaccination in dogs against leptospirosis which is a zoonotic disease. An inactivated bivalent vaccine composed of Leptospira interrogans serovars icterohaemorrhagiae [L. icterohaemorrhagiae] and canicola [L. canicola] bacterins was tested for its ability to protect puppies against a challenge exposure with L. icterohaemorrhagiae. The vaccine was administered twice at a 3-week interval to six puppies aged from 8 to 9 weeks. Six other puppies were used as unvaccinated controls. All puppies were challenged 2 weeks after the second vaccine injection by intraperitoneal (IP) administration of L. icterohaemorrhagiae (day 0). Clinical signs, haematological and biochemical changes and evidence of Leptospira in blood, urine and kidney were monitored for 4 weeks after the challenge exposure (days 0-28). Puppies were euthanised on day 28 for post-mortem and histological examinations of liver and kidney. Control group presented clinical pictures of severe or subclinical infection. One dog developed severe clinical signs (hypothermia, depression, anorexia, abdominal pain, dehydration, icterus, weight loss) and died on post-infection day (PID) 7 due to an acute renal failure. Gross and microscopic lesions were in accordance with this clinical pattern. In the five remaining control dogs, the challenge exposure induced mainly a systemic infection including leptospiraemia, leptospiruria and renal carriage. The vaccinated group remained healthy throughout the study period. In conclusion, immunisation with a Leptospira vaccine was shown to protect dogs against symptomatology and leptospiraemia, urine shedding and renal infection.

Treatment of canine parvoviral enteritis with interferon-omega in a placebo-controlled challenge trial.

Canine parvoviral enteritis continues to cause significant morbidity and mortality in dogs worldwide, and efficacious antiviral therapies are lacking. The present trial was aimed at evaluating the therapeutic efficacy of a recombinant feline interferon (type omega) preparation in the treatment of parvoviral enteritis in dogs. A double-blind, placebo-controlled challenge trial was performed in beagle pups (8-9 weeks); clinical signs, body weight, hematologic parameters, and mortality were monitored for a period of 14 days after challenge. Fourteen animals were inoculated with virulent canine parvovirus; 10 animals that developed clinical signs thereby meeting the inclusion criteria were admitted to the treatment phase in two randomly selected groups (placebo and IFN) of equal size. The IFN group received daily intravenous injections of rFeIFN-omega (2.5 MU/kg) for three consecutive days. The placebo group received daily injections of saline without IFN. Both groups of animals received individual supportive treatment consisting of adjusted diet and electrolyte solution. All five dogs in the placebo group developed fulminating enteritis with typical clinical signs and died within 10 days post-inoculation (or 6 days post-treatment). In the IFN-treated group, one animal died on day 2 after the treatment was started, whereas the other four dogs survived the challenge and gradually recovered. Our data confirm that the rFeIFN-omega can exert a significant therapeutic effect on dogs with parvoviral enteritis by improving clinical signs and reducing mortality.

Therapeutic effects of recombinant feline interferon-omega on feline leukemia virus (FeLV)-infected and FeLV/feline immunodeficiency virus (FIV)-coinfected symptomatic cats.

The clinical efficacy of a recombinant feline interferon, rFeIFN-omega, was evaluated for the treatment of cats presented with clinical signs associated with feline leukemia virus (FeLV) infection and FeLV/feline immunodeficiency virus (FIV) coinfection in the field. In this multicentric, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial, 81 cats meeting the inclusion criteria were randomly placed into 2 groups and treated subcutaneously with rFelFN-omega (1 million [M]U/kg per day) or placebo once daily for 5 consecutive days in 3 series (day 0, 14, 60). The cats were monitored for up to 1 year for clinical signs and mortality. During the initial 4-month period, interferon (IFN)-treated cats (n = 39) had significantly reduced clinical scores compared with placebo (n = 42), with all cats having received concomitant supportive therapies. Compared with the control, the IFN-treated group showed significantly lower rates of mortality: 39% versus 59% (1.7-fold higher risk of death for controls) at the 9-month time point and 47% versus 59% (1.4-fold higher risk of death for controls) at the 12-month time point. The IFN treatment was associated with minor but consistent improvement in abnormal hematologic parameters (red blood cell count, packed cell volume, and white blood cell count), apparently underlying the positive effects of IFN on clinical parameters. These data demonstrate that rFeIFN-omega initially has statistically significant therapeutic effects on clinical signs and later on survival of cats with clinical signs associated with FeLV infection and FeLV/FIV coinfection.