Canine distemper virus (CDV) is a morbillivirus that is the etiological agent of one of the most important viral diseases affecting canids and an expanding range of other carnivores. Using real-time RT-PCR, CDV RNA was detected in organs of an Iberian lynx (Lynx pardinus) found dead in the Doñana National Park, Southwestern Andalusia, Spain. This finding may be of great importance for the conse...

We evaluated exposure to canine distemper virus (CDV) in eight wild giant pandas (Ailuropoda melanoleuca) and 125 unvaccinated domestic dogs living in and around Foping National Nature Reserve (FNNR), China. Seventy-two percent of unvaccinated domestic dogs (mixed breed) had neutralizing antibodies for CDV due to exposure to the disease. The eight wild giant pandas were naïve to CDV and carried...

We used real-time RT-PCR and virus titration to examine canine distemper virus (CDV) kinetics in peripheral blood and rectal and nasal secretions from 12 experimentally infected dogs. Real-time RT-PCR proved extremely sensitive, and the correlation between the two methods for rectal and nasal (r=0.78, 0.80) samples on the peak day of viral RNA was good. Although the dogs showed diverse symptoms...

Canine distemper virus (CDV) has emerged as a significant disease of wildlife, which is highly contagious and readily transmitted between susceptible hosts. Initially described as an infectious disease of domestic dogs, it is now recognized as a global multi-host pathogen, infecting and causing mass mortalities in a wide range of carnivore species. The last decade has seen the effect of numerou...

Serengeti lions frequently experience viral outbreaks. In 1994, one-third of Serengeti lions died from canine distemper virus (CDV). Based on the limited epidemiological data available from this period, it has been unclear whether the 1994 outbreak was propagated by lion-to-lion transmission alone or involved multiple introductions from other sympatric carnivore species. More broadly, we do not...

Canine distemper virus (CDV) has been reported worldwide in wild carnivores and has been cited as the cause of population declines in some species. Crab-eating foxes (Cerdocyon thous) from El Palmar National Park, Argentina, were observed either dead or exhibiting clinical neurologic signs. Samples were taken from two individuals that were laterfound tobe positive for CDV by direct immunofluore...

The determination of serologic titers to infectious organisms is a valuable tool for quantitating exposure to disease organisms. Raccoons (Procyon lotor) were live-trapped from September 1989 to October 1993 and samples collected from two distinct locations in west-central Illinois (USA); a state recreational facility (Park) and privately owned farming property (Farm). Sera were submitted for t...

Widespread deaths recently devastated the smallest known population of Ethiopian wolves. Of 7 carcasses found, all 3 tested were positive for rabies. Two wolves were subsequently vaccinated for rabies; 1 of these later died from canine distemper. Only 2 of a known population of 13 wolves survived.

Rinderpest is caused by a morbillivirus closely related to the measles and canine distemper viruses. The pathology and symptomatology of the three diseases are very similar,1 but in terms of mortality, rinderpest is by far the most lethal; in European cattle the death rate often exceeds 80 per cent. The disease was eradicated in Europe over a hundred years ago, but in the eighteenth century an ...

A quantitative study of the antigenicity of various vaccines containing influenza A virus has been made in human beings. A complex vaccine prepared from chick embryos inoculated with both influenza A virus and the X strain of canine distemper virus was found to be more effective than other vaccines in stimulating the production of neutralizing antibodies against the former virus. The increased ...