I have a question for the board, about herpes.

A good friend has been waiting on a list for a nice show quality bitch. (Not labradors, but the breed is irrelevant I think?) The litter was whelped about 6 weeks ago and almost half of the litter died, (within the 7th to 14th days), and a puppy sent for a necropsy. They got the results back, and it is now confirmed herpes. Unfortuately the necropsy results came too late to make a difference to the ones that were lost. There were several surviving puppies, one of which was the breeder's "wet pick". The breeder had no intention of keeping a female, and is keeping a boy, and wants to place this female puppy in a show home.

Which brings me to my question. Are there any long term effects of a puppy that survived a neonatal exposure to Herpes? Kidney damage, respiratory, or other system failures? My friend would like to take this puppy, but is unsure of what to do? this puppy is a dream breeding, and the puppy looks really good conformationally, and is thriving, and is everything that she is looking for. She wants to be sure she does the right thing, because she does not have a lot of room for more dogs to run on, if it will have health issues later on.
What would you say to my friend?

Oops author should read "What would you say".

Anyone? please? Would you keep a puppy that had been exposed to Herpes? Does anyone know if she may have reproductive issues later on? Maybe this isn't the place to ask?

Please don't quote me, because I haven't had a lot of experience with this. But it's my understanding that it's best to have them exposed at some time other than when they're pregnant, because that's the dangerous time, in terms of losing a litter. I know that bitches who were exposed during pregnancy, and lose much of the litter, will not have problems later on with future litters, because it's the timing of WHEN they're exposed that is the issue. Many dogs in many kennels have been exposed, you just don't want them getting exposed for the first time, late in pregnancy or right around whelping time. As for the effects of being exposed for that particular puppy, I don't know for sure. I suspect that if the pup survives ok and passes its exam at 7 or 8 weeks old, that it will likely be fine, but that's something a vet could look up for you. Many experienced breeders will likely be getting home from the Potomac this weekend and might be able to shed more light on this, but I also think it's one of those times where we as a group cannot replace veterinary advice and consultation. Good luck to your friend though.

I had a litter many years ago and lost 4 of the 6 pups to Herpes. The other 2 pups were placed in pet homes, as they weren't show quality anyway. They are now 5 years old, and there have been no problems with them. I don't know if that is the way things would generally turn out, but in this case they were fine.

This is why dogs have litters. I would say that the surviving puppies had very good immune systems and were very hardy and healthy to fight the herpes off. I think these would be better than average puppies healthwise, and would jump at the chance if everything else was good

Here are some articles on CHV that may help. I have started to do herpes virus titers with the brucellosis test as a pre-breeding workup on the girls.

http://www.videxgsd.com/canine_herpes.htm

http://www.marvistavet.com/html/body_canine_herpes_infection.html

http://www.healthgene.com/vet/d3211.asp

http://www.canineherpes.com/

http://www.showdogsupersite.com/kenlclub/breedvet/vhr2.html

http://www.hilltopanimalhospital.com/canine%20herpes.htm

I kept a puppy from a litter that most died from herpes. My puppy is fine so far, no problems at all at 6 months and he is gorgeous.

Thank you all for your replies. I am learning so much! My friend and I had found most of the links that were provided above, but a few were new to us.

My friend is worried about future possible kidney and any possible fertility/reproductive issues later on at maturity. It seems there is not really any data out there that supports or denies any long term effects on the puppies.
Maybe the lack of data is a good sign, because once they survive exposure/infection they are really strong. Has anyone here bred a bitch that was a herpes litter survivor? Where there any problems? Does anyone have a mature plder bitch that was a survivor, and has no renal problems?

Thank you all so much, it is so nice to come here and get a collective opinion.