Epidemiological analysis and clinical manifestations of canine distemper virus in white nosed coatis (Nasua narica) and crab-eating raccoons (Procyon cancrivorus) of Costa Rica: a comparative study and literature eeview

• Author(s): Ferreira, Beatriz Dias Pacheco
• Date: 2023
• Persistent ID: https://hdl.handle.net/10348/12161
• Origin: Repositório da UTAD
• Subject(s): canine distemper virus (CDV); wildlife
• Document Type: Master thesis
• Language: English
• Contributor(s): Coelho, Ana; Repositório Institucional da UTAD

Description

Canine distemper is a viral infectious disease of caused by the canine distemper virus (CDV). This virus belongs to the Mononegavirales order, Paramyxoviridae family, Morbillivirus genus and is able to infect a wide range of species. Although having been reported in dogs for more than a century, CDV was only described for the first time in non-dog hosts in 1937. In consequence of its high variability and tendency for host-switching, CDV has been considered a conservation threat to populations of unexposed and unvaccinated populations of wild carnivore and non-carnivore species. This has resulted in new studies being conducted in wildlife. Despite the available epidemiological and phylogenetic research, the viruses’ transmission and maintenance in wildlife populations remains unclear. This study was conducted with the purpose of reviewing and synthetizing existing information regarding canine distemper virus infections in wildlife species. A statistical analysis is performed in parallel concerning distemper infections in 22 crab-eating raccoons (Procyon cancrivorous) and white-nosed coatis (Nasua narica) admitted in the Alturas Wildlife Rescue Center clinic from the years 2017 to 2021. The diagnosis of CDV was performed using a rapid enzyme immunochromatography test kit (SensPERT Canine Distemper Virus Test™ [Cdv Ag], Vetall Laboratories©, Korea). In this study we compared the gathered data with existing literature on the distribution, clinical signs, diagnosis, and outcomes of CDV infections in the target animals.