Abstract
Abstract Canine distemper virus (CDV) is a worldwide distributed RNA virus that can cause severe disease in carnivore and non-carnivore species. Red foxes are highly susceptible and may act as a reservoir of the virus. As in other wild species, distemper in red foxes can manifest as acute, systemic and chronic nervous form. In the present study, we detected antibodies against CDV among red foxes in Western Serbia, and analyzed histopathologically and immunohistochemically for CDV nuclear protein antigen (CDV-NP) brain samples derived from seropositive animals. Seroprevalence of CDV antibodies was 36.8%. Histopathological changes included gliosis, neuronal degeneration, satellitosis, mononuclear inflammation, demyelination and presence of inclusion bodies. Immunostaining showed a diffuse presence of CDV-NP antigen, mainly in the cytoplasm of astrocytes and neurons. Results of this work contribute to the opinion that red foxes act as a potential reservoir of CDV and underline the importance of routine vaccination of dogs that could come in close contact with these animals. Potential active surveillance program would give a better insight in the degree of CDV infection in wildlife.
Highlights
Distemper is an infectious, highly contagious and often fatal disease caused by canine distemper virus (CDV, genus Morbillivirus, family Paramyxoviridae, order Mononegavirales)
Macroscopic examination of brains derived from seropositive animals from our study revealed no gross changes, which is similar to findings of other authors, while there were a number of described microscopic lesions characteristic for this disease [1]
These findings are consistent with literature data, since many authors describe multifocal to diffuse gliosis with the formation of nodules in the brain of red foxes affected with Canine distemper virus (CDV) [26,27]
Summary
Highly contagious and often fatal disease caused by canine distemper virus (CDV, genus Morbillivirus, family Paramyxoviridae, order Mononegavirales). It is a pantropic virus with a non-segmented, negative stranded RNA. Like other members of the family, CDV has six structural proteins of which haemaglutinin (H), the attachment protein, due to its high antigenic variability is used for genetic changes monitoring of the virus [2,3]. The infection has been confirmed in the mammalian species belonging to six different orders: Carnivora, Rodentia, Artiodactyla, Primates, Proboscidea and Pilosa [5,6]. Recent in vitro studies showing that CDV can possibly infect human cells have raised the importance of CDV as a potential zoonotic agent, especially considering WHO agenda for reducing measles virus vaccination [9,10]
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