A Proposed Voluntary DNA Bank for the Hungarian Wirehaired Vizsla

The Committee and Health Sub-committee of the HWVA are setting up a voluntary DNA bank for the breed.

Scanning the breed notes in the dog papers, it is noticeabe that several other breed clubs are talking about setting up DNA banks as well. They frequently seem to have issues with their members not fully understanding what is meant by a DNA bank, or fearful of what such material might be used for. To pre-empt a similar situation in our Association, the situation is as follow:

• A DNA bank is a collection of DNA samples that are stored for future research purposes only. They could be used, for example, to help identify a genetic mutation associated with an inherited disease that develops in the future.
• To submit a DNA sample from your dog to the DNA bank please ask Susan Lawson, Health Co-ordinator, for a DNA swab kit. The cost to you will be £5.00 plus £1.00 post and packaging for each kit. Cheques should be made payable to the HWVA.
• Following the instructions provided, you take a swab (not unlike using a large cotton bud or thin spatula) from your dog's cheek or from the inside of the lip. Be careful not to touch anything else with the swab.
• You return the swab to the Animal Health Trust in the envelope provided. You will be asked to consent to the sample being used for future research purposes. You will also be asked to provide a copy of your dog's pedigree and any information relating to any major health conditions your dog has. You will be asked to update the AHT in the future if your dog undergoes any major health changes.
• No diagnostic DNA tests can be done on a DNA sample from your HWV at this point, since no such test exists yet. For example, you cannot currently test for heart problems or anything like that using a DNA sample from an HWV. The samples stored in the DNA bank will be stored solely for research into inherited diseases in the future, possibly after your dog is no longer alive. It is not something precious like a sperm sample from a stud or eggs from a dam, it is merely the equivalent of a barcode yet to be read.
• You will not get any results back at this point, or even in the near future. It is merely a sample in storage. Such a sample cannot be tested for disease.
• If, at a later date for example, we decide we need something investigating, the samples can be used to identify mutation(s) that increase a dog's risk of developing the condition under investigation and develop an appropriate DNA test.
• It is VITAL that we collect samples from stud dogs and dams that have had a great impact on the breed, and are now getting old, as soon as possible.
• The AHT will report to us quarterly. This will merely be a report on the numbers of samples they have received and were successfully stored.
• The whole process is entirely technical and scientific. The AHT is not interested in placing blame for problems a breed might have, or proving or disproving parentage. They are interested in a kind of museum of genetic material that may be used for identifying a disease as genetic, and then identifying that gene (or set of genes) causing it.
• The setting up of a DNA bank is not to be feared, and has significant value in that participation will contribute towards the health of the HWV in the future.

Written and used with kind permission from Andre Hess MRCVS