Comparison of the pathogenicity in three different Korean canine parvovirus 2 (CPV-2) isolates

Canine parvovirus type 2 (CPV-2) is a major pathogen inducing acute hemorrhagic gastroenteritis in dogs. Despite the identification of numerous CPV-2 variants (from CPV-2a to CPV-2c), the pathogenic differences among the CPV-2 variants in dogs have not been evaluated. The aim of this study was to compare the pathogenicity of CPV-2 variants (CPV-2a-I, CPV-2a-V and CPV-2b) isolated mainly from Korea. We evaluated the pathogenicity of three different CPV-2 variants, by performing clinical, hematological, serological and histopathological examinations after experimentally inoculating three types of CPV-2 variants into young puppies. We found that the overall pathogenicity of the CPV-2a variants (CPV-2a-I and 2a-V) was severer compared to the CPV-2b variant. In addition, there was no significant difference in pathogenicity between the two CPV-2a variants. Our findings indicate that there are differences in the pathogenicity of CPV-2 variants in dogs, which may be useful to understand the different pathobiology of the CPV-2 variants.