6 research outputs found
Arctic Lineage-Canine Distemper Virus as a Cause of Death in Apennine Wolves (<i>Canis lupus</i>) in Italy
<div><p>Canine distemper virus (CDV) infection is a primary threat affecting a wide number of carnivore species, including wild animals. In January 2013, two carcasses of Apennine wolves (<i>Canis lupus</i>) were collected in Ortona dei Marsi (L'Aquila province, Italy) by the local Veterinary Services. CDV was immediately identified either by RT-PCR or immunohistochemistry in lung and central nervous tissue samples. At the same time, severe clinical signs consistent with CDV infection were identified and taped (<b><a href="http://www.plosone.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0082356#pone.0082356.s001" target="_blank">Videos S1</a>–<a href="http://www.plosone.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0082356#pone.0082356.s003" target="_blank">S3</a></b>) from three wolves rescued in the areas surrounding the National Parks of the Abruzzi region by the Veterinary Services. The samples collected from these symptomatic animals also turned out CDV positive by RT-PCR. So far, 30 carcasses of wolves were screened and CDV was detected in 20 of them. The sequencing of the haemagglutinin gene and subsequent phylogenetic analysis demonstrated that the identified virus belonged to the CDV Arctic lineage. Strains belonging to this lineage are known to circulate in Italy and in Eastern Europe amongst domestic dogs. To the best of our knowledge this is the first report of CDV Arctic lineage epidemics in the wild population in Europe.</p></div
Map illustrating the distribution of CDV positive animals in Abruzzi region.
<p>Map was generated using Quantum GIS (QGIS) software, version 1.8.0.</p
Immunohistochemistry (IHC) for CDV on lung tissue of wolf Wa. Bronchiolar epithelial cells and inflammatory cells filling the airways show a strong and specific CDV immuno-reactivity.
<p>Scale bar = 100 µm.</p
Indirect immunofluorescence (IIF) for detection IgM antibodies performed on the serum sample of wolf W1.
<p>Scale bar = 100 µm.</p
Immunohistochemistry (IHC) for CDV on cerebral cortex tissue of wolf Wa. xNeurons from the cerebral cortex show a strong and specific CDV immuno-reactivity.
<p>Scale bar = 100 µm.</p
Neighbour-joining tree inferred from multiple nucleotide sequence alignment of the H encoding gene of selected CDV strains retrieved from GenBank.
<p>Sequences obtained in this study are marked with a circle.</p