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Saluki Gazelle Hound Database and Breed Information ExchangeArticle on Sudden death for Saluki International and the Newsletter. (Christopher Lewis B.Vet.Med. Cert.SHP. and Peter Yardley) Just over two years 3 young salukis from one litter suddenly died for no immediately obvious The owner of one of these hounds was Tessa Abbott, a member of our Committee, with a life long interest in the breed. She considered this to be such a serious matter for the breed thatinstead of hushing up the matter she decided to bring it into the open and before the Committee so that some action could be taken. A sub-committee was set up and the help of Christopher Lewis was enlisted to oversee the veterinary side of the problem.
In the past various attempts have been made to look into the occurrence of various deaths in the breed that appeared to occur for no apparent reason. Amongst those who made these attempts were Dr Alain Champagne of France,Mavis Shellard and Denise Rogers in this country, however they made little headway as there was a reluctance on the part of breeders to believe that their breeding may be involved, 'it is always someone else's problem'.
What causes Sudden Death in young, apparently fit and healthy salukis? The answer is we do not know. We do know that it is not unique to this breed and it occurs in other breeds and other species including Homo Sapiens. We also know that it has occurred in our breed in other countries including Canada, Finland, the USA, and may well be occurring in other countries but has not been identified as such due to the small number of hounds in a country.
What we also do not know is whether these deaths are in fact caused by the same agent. Are they just a coincidence where the outward signs of death to the owners look the same but on analysis in a veterinary investigation separate causes can be identified, yet they get lumped together under the simple heading of Sudden Death. Of the 2 cases that have been thoroughly investigated, one was caused by nodular endocarditis and the other succumbed to an E coli septicaemia.
In recent months I have seen a number of programmes on television and two were of particular interest to me. One was a series on genetics presented by Dr David Suzuki of the University of British Columbia in Vancouver. In these programmes he explained some of the research that was going on around the world to investigate the nature of human genes in the Genome Project. In the first place it amazes me how technology has advanced so rapidly in the past few years so that these infinitesimally small particles can be investigated. The ability to investigate means that we can now begin to understand things that a few years ago we could only contemplate and surmise the possible causes. One of the conclusions that Dr Suzuki postulated was that in our genes the map of our life is predetermined to a certain extent. How we develop and what diseases we are susceptible to is predetermined by our genetic make up. Whether we develop in this predetermined manner or develop certain diseases can be affected by environmental factors and the big unknown at this stage is what are the environmental factors that effect development or trigger a disease to which we are susceptible. From this we have to conclude that hereditary factors do play a part in our lives whether it be human or animal life.
The other programme that I found interesting and may have some relevance was a programme on sudden death in athletes. The study concerned a group of Scandinavian orientieers. These people were fit, healthy and relatively young athletes. After some had died in a relatively short space of time without any tangible reason a full scale medical inquiry was undertaken. After exhaustive testing on athletes from several disciplines it was found that in the process of rigorous training, often pushing themselves to the limit and beyond to extract that maximum performance, that their immune systems were adversely affected. In some cases they dropped to a low as 25% of what they should have been. As a result these athletes needed only a minor infection, a slight sore throat or the like, and the immune system could not cope with the infection and they succumbed. A reduction in the amount of training was advocated to minimise the risk.
In today's world there are many and rapidly changing ways we care for our hounds. They live a softer life than they did in their natural habitat or even 50 years ago in this country. They now have an enormous range of drugs to protect them from or cure them of this or that. One of the more recent innovations is the way we feed them with "complete foods". Do we really know what goes into these convenience (to us) foods and what impact this is having on canines in spite of the assurances given by the manufacturers. We only have to see in this country (UK) the problem of BSE in cattle to make us wonder.
With time and often painstaking effort as well as adequate financial resources most illness' can be explained and a cure devised to remedy it. In the case of the athletes there was a human factor and time and resource was applied to come up with an explanation. In our case we think there is a problem but in the cases that have been investigated so far, and you have to remember that they are few in number, the identified causes of death are not identical. So far we have raised money to help with post-mortem costs. The costs involved in a full scale veterinary investigation, most probably taking several years, is beyond the resources of our 2 clubs, we would most probably be looking at a figure in excess of 10,000 or may be considerably more!
A number of people are suggesting that a hereditary factor is involved and that we should get a geneticist in to investigate. However a geneticist needs facts and we have precious few of those at present, to have any meaning we would most probably need at least 100 cases before a conclusive analysis could be made.The other factor that has to be overcome is the notion that it is always someone else's problem and until people can be honest with themselves for the benefit of the breed we may not get very far. The one vital clue may be withheld for personal reasons or because a person thought it was irrelevant.
The Club's next step is to circulate the information we have gathered and prepared so far to other Saluki Clubs around the world to invite their interest. By doing this we hope to gain a broader base of knowledge. Armed with this knowledge we may be able to interest someone, a geneticist or another, to carry out some research that will not only be beneficial to us but to others as well. This is now in hand and we hope that it will go out this autumn.
In conclusion, we need the honest help of everyone. We do know why deaths have occurred in those post-mortems that have been fully carried out, but that does not indicate a common cause. There may be a hereditary element involved, but equally there may be environmental or infectious agents or toxins that trigger a latent reaction in the body which the body defence systems just cannot cope with. -- Christopher Lewis B.Vet.Med. Cert.SHP. and Peter Yardley
------------------------------------ SUDDEN DEATH SYNDROME Update September 1994 Since the recognition two years ago that there appeared to be a sudden death syndrome in young salukis (in our criteria 2-5 years) no further deaths within this criteria have been reported.
Although I have received reports of deaths none fall within these guidelines. A review of retrospective cases which people have so kindly submitted reveals a marked lack of investigation. Generally where a post mortem has been carried out, it has been by a general practitioner who has failed to submit material for laboratory examination. Gross post mortem to a none pathologist can be very misleading. the two outstanding cases where diagnosis was made revealed a vegetative endocarditis (infection and distortion of the valves in the heart) and a haemolytic E. coli septicaemia.
Briefly vegetative endocarditis can arise initially at birth where the bacteria (usually a Streptococcus) enters via the naval, settles in the heart valves acting as a foreign body. As a result the body proliferates to rid itself of the bacteria and hence in effect a lump of scar tissue replaces the smooth valves of the heart. Death occurs either because the valves are so disrupted that circulation fails, more frequently that the roughness of the scar tissue induces clotting and eventually a smallclot detaches itself to lodge in either the cardiac artery or an artery feeding a vital area of the brain. Thus management at birth could be one of the reasons, please do let the bitch clean up the pups and cord. Her saliva is natures antiseptic.
The second case of haemolytic E. coli septicaemia is interesting. The bacteria isolated from all organs very soon after death precluded post mortem invasion. This septicaemia could have occurred due to an insult to the immune system and hence a lack of natural immunity. However I know only too well to my own cost that E. colis have the ability to be primary pathogens in their own right and can overwhelm competent immune systems of a health animal.
Another facet of E coli is their ability to produce very powerful toxins. In horses sudden death due to E. coli endotoxaemia is well recognised.However, in each and every case one requires specialist veterinary pathologists and techniques to reach a positive diagnosis. Another line of interest is the deaths reported in Scandinavia of a series of orienteers. There is yet no sure diagnosis except prevention is achieved by reducing their fitness levels. Yet another area of concern is the gross overfeeding of supplements to growing puppies and I do have concern over "complete diets". The bright side is that no sudden death has occurred in the last two years but should one occur we must be ready to investigate it fully. I recognise only too well the trauma at the sudden loss of a fit young saluki.
On the genetic front Carol Adley, well known in the breed and a geneticist states, "it is difficult to pin the problem down to one strain of breeding as the sudden deaths are coming from many directions, however a genetic breed weakness or susceptibility may exist". -- Christopher Lewis B.Vet.Med. Cert. SHP
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