DISTEMPER. IT WAS a word that struck terror into the heart of any Victorian kennelman, for it was one of the most deadly of all dog diseases. Canine distemper virus (CDV) is a viral disease that affects a considerable number of mammals, though not humans. Its symptoms are many, ranging from eye inflammation to coughing, vomiting and diarrhoea. It also causes hardening of the nose and footpads, hence the alternative name of ‘hard pad’.
Through it’s tempting to write about CDV in the past tense, it’s still
