PAGETS-DISEASE OF BONE AND UNVACCINATED DOGS

The etiology of Paget's disease is unknown, but several observations s uggest a viral cause, Since canine distemper virus is among those prop osed to be a causal agent, we investigated the hypothesis that dog own ership may increase the risk of Paget's disease of bone by means of a case control study, One hundred and fifty patients with Paget's diseas e and 185 controls were interviewed using a structured questionnaire a dministered by the same interviewer, Participants were asked about the ir socioeconomic background and their exposure to pets, The risk of Pa get's disease was not significantly increased in individuals, However, ownership of a mongrel dog was associated with a significant increase in risk (OR = 1.6; 95% CI = 1.0-2.4) and the risk increased still fur ther with the ownership of an unvaccinated dog (OR = 2.8; 95% CI = 1.8 -4.5), Additionally, ownership of cats and birds excluding dog owners, increased the risk of Paget's disease (OR = 2.5; 95% CI = 1.0-5.0; OR = 2.3; 95% CI = 1.0-5.3, respectively), These data suggest that previ ous exposure to cats, birds, and dogs unvaccinated for canine distempe r may increase the risk of an individual developing Paget's disease of bone.