Viral Infections in Dogs - Dogs suffer from several viral diseases, some more serious than others. Viral infections are different from bacterial infections in that they are much more difficult to treat, as a virus is much smaller than a bacterium and often operates in a different manner. There are often many different strains of the same virus, and a cure for one strain may not work with a different strain.

We know from human viral infections like the common cold and flu that even commonly occuring viruses are often difficult if not impossible to cure at the present time. This is primarily because there are very many different viral strains that occur through mutations.

Unfortunately some viral illnesses attack a dogs immune system, which prevents the dogs own body from fighting off illnesses. Such illnesses are very difficult to treat, and may result in death, possibly after a long period of time has elapsed (as in the human condition of AIDS).

This section describes the some of the more common viral infections that can affect dogs including distemper, canine hepatitis, kennel cough, rabies and parvovirus.

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