COMPARATIVE STUDY OF CANINE DISTEMPER AND A RESPIRATORY DISEASE OF MAN

Abstract

Clinical, epidemiologic, pathologic and serologic evidence has been presented which indicates a possible relationship of canine distemper and a respiratory disease of human beings. Neutralization of distemper viral infection in ferrets has been accomplished experimentally; infection caused by this virus in living chick-embryos has been neutralized by human sera and by human gamma globulin. Both in vivo and in vitro methods were employed in these experiments. Inclusion bodies are shown with the same morphologic and staining characteristics as well as similar tissue reactions to infection. The striking features of these changes are the proliferation and destruction of pulmonary lining epithelium, giant cell formation, and a predominant mononuclear reaction in the animal and human sections. A review of the literature on a possible relationship between canine distemper and human illness has been presented. The former disease is now proved to be due to a specific virus.