WAFDAL

WAFDAL meeting, Oslo , August 14, 2009

In general there has been little activity from the member clubs towards the Health and

breeding commission concerning health problems. At the Zagreb meeting in 2007

both mega-oesophagus (MO) and epilepsy were discussed. More recently the

question of urate stones and deafness gene testing have come up again.

Mega-oesophagus

Only scattered information about new incidents have reached us. If the low level of

“noise” is relevant for the present level of MO, there is no need for further measures

from WAFDAL. The individual member clubs should , however, continue to keep

MO under observation.

Epilepsy

The possibility of inherited epilepsy was brought up in 2007 and continued in 2008,

particularly in connection with a genetic project in Finland (www.epidal

.dalmatiner.org). Lena Erlandsson was elected to the Health and breeding commission

in Zagreb and was given a special responsibility for following the development in

inherited epilepsy. Dr. Erlandsson will answer questions at the meeting, but the

general impression is that there is little news of interest to Dalmatian breeders. After

reports on litters with epilepsy in 2008, we have received nothing more. A gene test

for juvenile epilepsy in Lagotto Romagnolo has been developed by Dr. Hannes Lohi

in Finland.

Urate stones

Earlier this year Sally Ann Clegg and Dominique Vincent, both members of the

Health and breeding commission, asked us to bring up the “backcross project” (in the

United States.) A letter of information about the low uric acid (lua) Dalmatians was

sent to the member clubs well ahead of this meeting and Danika Bannasch has been

invited to present the project at the meeting, both in the closed session and in the open

scientific session in the afternoon. Dr. Bannasch developed the gene test for lua-

Dalmatians.

The member clubs were asked to consider if they or WAFDAL should become

involved in importing some low uric acid Dalmatians from the US. The latest news is

that dr. Vincent has imported Stocklore Forest Windsong, bred by Robert Schaible,

the pioneer of the backcross project. To our knowledge this is the first low uric acid

Dalmatian in France (and Europe) A major problem is the fact that the lua-Dalmatians

in the US are not yet registered in the AKC, because a majority of the members of the

American Dalmatian Club are still not supporting the project. The uneven spot

quality is probably the major hindrance today.

Deafness gene testing

A pigmentation related gene, the microphthalmia-associated transcription factor

(MITF), known to be involved in regulation of cell growth in malignant melanomas,

has turned out to be of interest in testing for inherited deafness and eye pigmentation,

which is related to the early death of melanocytes. A research group at the

University of Veterinary medicine in Hannover, led by Prof.  Ottmar Distl,

looking for genome-wide markers for deafness, has found a significant association

between MITF-related markers and deafness/pigmentation. They are currently doing

verification tests on German Dalmatians. Since the differences between different

populations are not known, they also welcome cooperation with more breeders and

breed clubs from other countries. After the verification procedures have been

performed, the gene test should be available for breeders, according to Prof. Distl

in an e-mail this week. The recently published study (S. Stritzel, A. Wölke, O. Distl,

J. Anim. Breed. Genet. 126 (2009) 59-62) was based on 22 deaf dogs with brown

eyes, 22 deaf dogs with partially or totally blue eyes, 22 bilaterally hearing dogs with

brown eyes and 22 bilaterally hearing dogs with partially or totally blue eyes. The

deaf dogs consisted of 32 unilateral and 12 bilateral deafs. The dogs were not closely

related and the hearing status had been determined by the BAER method.

With the continuous reduction in costs for gene tests, an affordable test for inherited

deafness/pigmentation factors may not be far away.

Tyge Greibrokk

Chairman, Health and breeding commission