Primate Virology Flashcards
Describe the effects of canine distemper virus in primates.
What species have been affected?
What were the typical clinical signs?
What organs were affected?
What was the hypothethesize exposure?
Canine DIstemper VIrus in Primates
* The first reported natural CDV infection in a primate occurred in 1989 in a 7.5 year old female Japanese macaque (Macaca fuscata) in human care that died of encephalitis
– Clinical signs were solely neurologic—including hemiplegia, ataxia, and mydriasis/miosis—unlike the later primate outbreaks
* In 2006, an unidentified respiratory disease outbreak occurred on a breeding farm of rhesus macaques (Macaca mulatta) in Guangxi Province, China
– From over 30,000 animals, more than 10,000 were affected and over 4000 died
– Mortality rates were significantly higher among young animals, and an autologous canine distemper vaccine administered the following year decreased morbidity
– Clinical signs included anorexia, pyrexia, skin rash, foot pad swelling, conjunctivitis, mucoid nasal discharge, coma, and death
– Liver and lung lesions were found on postmortem examination
– Sequencing revealed homology with a US domestic ferret isolate, a US raccoon (Procyon lotor) isolate, and a Japanese domestic dog isolate
– It was hypothesized that the source was a free-ranging monkey or a stray dog
* In 2008, a smaller group of rhesus macaques was affected in China, and phylogenetic analysis revealed that the virus was taxonomically related to the previous epidemic cluster
– monkeys had thickened foot pads characteristic of CDV
* That same year, a group of 432 cynomolgus macaques were imported from China to Japan and 46 died of severe pneumonia in quarantine
– CDV was diagnosed via isolation, and the strain and clinical signs were similar to that of the outbreak that occurred in China
