Rapid Differential Diagnosis: Clinical Strategies for Canine Distemper, Parvovirus, and Coronavirus

Common Similar Symptoms

• **Vomiting:** Varying degrees of vomiting.
• **Diarrhea:** The nature of the diarrhea may range from watery to mucoid, or even bloody (more common with CPV).
• **Loss of appetite/anorexia:** Depression leading to reduced food intake or complete refusal to eat.
• **Depression/lethargy:** Reduced activity and sluggish response to external stimuli.
• **Dehydration:** Fluid loss due to vomiting and diarrhea.
• **Fever:** Elevated body temperature, CDV may present with a characteristic biphasic fever.

Key Differentiation Tips (to be confirmed with laboratory testing)

• **Canine Distemper (CDV):** In addition to gastrointestinal symptoms, it is usually accompanied by **respiratory symptoms** (such as coughing, purulent nasal discharge), **eye symptoms** (purulent ocular discharge, conjunctivitis), and in the later stages of the disease, **neurological symptoms** (convulsions, myoclonus, etc.) and **skin symptoms** (footpad hyperkeratosis, pustular dermatitis) may appear.
• **Canine Parvovirus (CPV):** Mainly causes severe **hemorrhagic enteritis**, accompanied by severe vomiting and foul-smelling bloody diarrhea. Laboratory tests usually show a **significant decrease in total white blood cell count** (especially neutropenia).
• **Canine Coronavirus (CCV):** The enteritis symptoms caused by CCV are usually **relatively mild** compared to CPV. Diarrhea may be yellow or green and watery, and vomiting and fever are not as severe as CPV. However, CCV often occurs as a **mixed infection** with other intestinal pathogens (such as CPV, parasites, etc.), complicating the condition.

Create a comparison table to clearly compare the main target organs, typical symptoms, incubation period, common age of onset, and key laboratory indicators (such as WBC) of CDV, CPV, and CCV.