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A canine distemper virus epidemic in Serengeti lions (Panthera leo).
| Content Provider | Europe PMC |
|---|---|
| Author | Roelke-Parker, Melody E. Munson, Linda Packer, Craig Kock, Richard Cleaveland, Sarah Carpenter, Margaret O'Brien, Stephen J. Pospischil, Andreas Hofmann-Lehmann, Regina Lutz, Hans Mwamengele, George L. M. Mgasa, M. N. Machange, G. A. Summers, Brian A. Appel, Max J. G. |
| Abstract | CANINE distemper virus (CDV) is thought to have caused several fatal epidemics in canids within the Serengeti–Mara ecosystem of East Africa, affecting silver-backed jackals (Canis mesomelas) and bat-eared foxes (Otocyon megalotis) in 1978 (ref. 1), and African wild dogs (Lycaon pictus) in 1991 (refs 2, 3). The large, closely monitored Serengeti lion population4,5 was not affected in these epidemics. However, an epidemic caused by a morbillivirus closely related to CDV emerged abruptly in the lion population of the Serengeti National Park, Tanzania, in early 1994, resulting in fatal neurological disease characterized by grand mal seizures and myoclonus; the lions that died had encephalitis and pneumonia. Here we report the identification of CDV from these lions, and the close phylogenetic relationship between CDV isolates from lions and domestic dogs. By August 1994, 85% of the Serengeti lion population had anti-CDV antibodies, and the epidemic spread north to lions in the Maasai Mara National reserve, Kenya, and uncounted hyaenas, bat-eared foxes, and leopards were also affected. |
| ISSN | 00280836 |
| Volume Number | 379 |
| PubMed Central reference number | PMC7095363 |
| Issue Number | 6564 |
| PubMed reference number | 8559247 |
| Journal | Nature |
| e-ISSN | 14764687 |
| DOI | 10.1038/379441a0 |
| Language | English |
| Publisher | Nature Publishing Group UK |
| Publisher Date | 1996-02-01 |
| Publisher Place | London |
| Access Restriction | Open |
| Rights License | This article is made available via the PMC Open Access Subset for unrestricted research re-use and secondary analysis in any form or by any means with acknowledgement of the original source. These permissions are granted for the duration of the World Health Organization (WHO) declaration of COVID-19 as a global pandemic. © Nature Publishing Group 1996 |
| Content Type | Text |
| Resource Type | Article |
| Subject | Multidisciplinary |