Abstract: Canine distemper caused by canine distemper virus (CDV) is acute infection disease of canine, which caused severe losses. In this study, specific primers recognized CDV nucleoprotein were designed, the 287 bp production was amplified by RT-PCR. This production was cloned by TA cloning and sequenced, the results showed that there was a high homogeneity of 98% in nucleotide with canine distemper virus NP sequence (accession number: EU716322) published in the GenBank. Epidemic of canine distemper in Hangzhou and other cities nearby was investigated by this specific RT-PCR. The results showed that total positive detection rate of CDV was 6.7%, the number of positive individuals in Hangzhou city was largest and positive detection rate was most up to 18.8%, positive detection of other cities (Linan, Taizhou, Zhoushan) were lower. The study is basic to prevention and treatment of canine distemper.

Key words: canine distemper; RT-PCR; Hangzhou; epidemic