The ACVD task force on canine atopic dermatitis (I): Incidence and prevalence

There is an increasing incidence of atopic diseases (asthma, allergic rhini tis and atopic dermatitis) in humans, especially in developed countries. Al though there is a genetic predisposition to the development of these diseas es, the rapid rise in incidence is suspected to be caused by environmental rather than genetic factors. Neither the incidence nor the prevalence of at opic dermatitis in the general canine population has been studied. As many of the environmental factors associated with the increasing incidence of at opic dermatitis in humans are consistently found in the environment of dogs , it would seem likely that a similar increase in the incidence of this dis ease would be occurring also in dogs. Epidemiological studies of canine ato pic dermatitis are needed to characterize the incidence and prevalence of a topic dermatitis, and to further study the factors that contribute to the d evelopment of this disease. (C) 2001 Elsevier Science B.V.