Pan American Health Business; Washington, DC, USA: 1999. Owner information, doggie history and signalment were gathered; dogs received physical examinations and vaccines protecting against CDV, and other common canine pathogens. Blood was collected to screen for IgM antibodies to CDV. In total, 208 dogs received physical exams and vaccines were given to 177. IgM antibody titres to CDV were obtained for 104 dogs. Fifty-four dogs (51.9%) tested positive for CDV at the cut off titre of 1:50, but a total of 91.4% of dogs experienced a detectable titre 1:10. Most of the positive test results were in dogs less than 2 years of age; 33.5% had Odz3 been Cambendazole previously vaccinated against CDV, and owners of 84 dogs (42.2%) reported clinical indicators characteristic of CDV in their dogs following the disaster. The presence of endemic diseases in doggie populations together with poor pre-disaster free-roaming doggie management results in a potential for widespread negative effects following disasters. Creation of preparedness plans that include animal welfare, disease prevention and mitigation should be developed. 0.05 were considered statistically significant. 3. Results and Discussion 3.1. Owner Information and Clinical Observations: April and May Visits Based on national statistics [18] there were 1,817 houses in Dichato prior to the disaster, and 958 were damaged in the earthquake and tsunami. Using an average of published estimates for other urban areas of Chile (Vi?a del Mar: 0.95 [21]; Cambendazole Santiago: 0.76 [22], and Guanaquero: 0.8, Tongoy: 0.9 and La Torre: 1.4 in the Coquimbo region of north-central Chile [23]) of 0.962 dogs per household, we estimate that as many as 921 owned dogs were immediately homeless after the disaster. Of 164 owners, 125 (76.2%) had been relocated to short term camps. We examined 142 dogs in April and 66 dogs in May for a total of 208 physical examinations performed. Twenty-four of these dogs were examined on both occasions, giving a total of 184 dogs brought to the clinics by 164 people. At this ratio of dogs to owners, we calculated 1.12 dogs per doggie owning household which is consistent with findings from other comparable locations in Chile [23]. Of all dogs whose sex was recorded (n = 179), 111 (62.0 7.4%) were males and the sex ratios did not differ significantly over the two visits (2= 2.05= 0.15). Of these, 24 (35.3%) females and 1 (0.9%) male had been sterilized. Owners of 155 dogs were able to recall the previous vaccination history and only 52 (33.5%) had received at least one CDV immunization. Of all physical examinations performed in April and May (n = 208), information regarding clinical indicators observed by owners in their dog(s) since the disaster, was obtained from 199 medical records (95.6%). Eighty-four owners (42.2%) described between one and eight of the nine CDV indicators simultaneously, that we inquired about in their dogs. Those reported from most to least frequent were cough (53.6%), vomiting (34.5%), anorexia (29.8%), diarrhea (26.1%), ocular or nasal discharge (21.4%), lethargy or depressive disorder (15.5%), respiratory indicators (10.7%), excess weight loss (9.5%), and tremors or seizures (1.2%). Information from Cambendazole physical exams showed similar findings. Of the 208 physical exams in April and May, 45 dogs experienced at least one of the nine Cambendazole CDV indicators, and veterinarians noted dogs with cough as the most frequent indicators. We examined three dogs in April with severe, late stage neurological indicators of CDV including myoclonus and convulsions and were found positive for IgM antibodies to CDV. Although not statistically significant, it was observed that there were more dogs in April with acute respiratory indicators, such as severe cough and dyspnea (7.7% 3% in May) and neurological signs such as seizures, ataxia and myoclonus (5 dogs no dogs in May). Conversely, in May we observed more chronic illnesses such as bacterial and parasitic dermatitis (37.9% 9.2% in April), ocular or otic infections (18.2% 3.5% in April), and traumatic lesions and injuries such as lameness, unrepaired fractures or superficial injuries (4.5% 2.8% in April). Of all physical exams performed in both April and May, 50.7% of the dogs experienced at least one clinical abnormality noted by the attending veterinarian. 3.2. CDV Diagnostic Results Blood was collected for screening diagnostics in April from 106 dogs greater than four months of age with no history of vaccination against CDV within the previous month. Results for two samples were inconclusive, but of the remaining 104 dogs, 54 (51.9 9.6%) were positive for IgM antibodies to CDV at the cut-off value of 1 1:50. Although we refer to positive dogs throughout as those with a titre of 1 1:50, it is noteworthy that.