IUCN / SSC Cat Specialist Group - Digital Cat Library |
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| Origgi, F.C.; Plattet, P.; Sattler, U.; Robert, N.; Casaubon, J.; Mavrot, F.; Prewsner, M.; Wu, N.; Giovannini, S.; Oevermann, A.; Stoffel, M.H.; Gaschen, V.; Segner, H.; Ryser-Degiorgis, M.-P. | |
| Emergence of Canine Distemper Virus strains with modified molecular signature and enhanced neuronal tropism leading to high morality in wild carnivores | |
| 2012 Veterinary Pathology (49): 915-929 | |
An ongoing canine distemper epidemic was first detected in Switzerland in the spring of 2009. Compared to previous local canine distemper outbreaks, it was characterized by unusually high morbidity and mortality, rapid spread over the country, and susceptibility of several wild carnivore species. Here, the authors describe the associated pathologic changes and phylogenetic and biological features of a multiple highly virulent canine distemper virus (CDV) strain detected in and/or isolated from red foxes (_Vulpes vulpes_), Eurasian badgers (_Meles meles_), stone (_Martes foina_) and pine (_Martes martes_) martens, from a Eurasian lynx (_Lynx lynx_), and a domestic dog. The main lesions included interstitial to bronchointerstitial pneumonia and meningopolioencephalitis, whereas demyelination-the classic presentation of CDV infection-was observed in few cases only. In the brain lesions, viral inclusions were mainly in the nuclei of the neurons. Some significant differences in brain and lung lesions were observed between foxes and mustelids. Swiss CDV isolates shared together with a Hungarian CDV strain detected in 2004. In vitro analysis of the hemagglutinin protein from one of the Swiss CDV strains revealed functional and structural differences from that of the reference strain A75/17, with the Swiss strain showing increased surface expression and binding efficiency to the signaling lymphocyte activation molecule (SLAM). These features might be part of a novel molecular signature, which might have contributed to an increase in virus pathogenicity, partially explaining the high morbidity and mortality, the rapid spread, and the large host spectrum observed in this outbreak. |
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