Vol. 12, Special Issue 11 (2023)

Canine distemper (CD) is a highly infectious disease affecting dogs world-wide. It is associated with substantial mortality and morbidity among dogs. The present study involves detection of canine distemper virus (CDV) by reverse transcription - polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR). A total of 15 deep nasal swabs were collected from dogs with respiratory signs brought to University Veterinary Hospital, Mannuthy. Extraction of RNA followed by RT-PCR was done employing primers targeting N gene. Multi-component vaccine was used as positive control. Amplicons of approximately 287 bp specific to CDV were obtained in 4 (26.6 %) samples. Representative positive sample was sequenced using Sanger’s dideoxy chain termination method. Phylogenetic tree was constructed using MEGA 11 software.