Biology Faculty Articles
Title
A Canine Distemper Virus Epidemic in Serengeti Lions (Panthera leo)
Document Type
Article
Publication Date
2-1-1996
Publication Title
Nature
ISSN
0028-0836
Volume
379
Issue/No.
6564
First Page
441
Last Page
445
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 and African wild dogs (Lycaon pictus) in 1991. The large, closely monitored Serengeti lion population 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.
NSUWorks Citation
Roelke-Parker, Melody E.; Linda Munson; Craig Packer; Richard Kock; Sarah Cleaveland; Margaret A. Carpenter; Stephen J. O'Brien; Andreas Pospischil; Regina Hofmann-Lehmann; Hans Lutz; George L. M. Mwamengele; M. N. Mgasa; G. A. Machange; Brian A. Summers; and Max J. G. Appel. 1996. "A Canine Distemper Virus Epidemic in Serengeti Lions (Panthera leo)." Nature 379, (6564): 441-445. https://nsuworks.nova.edu/cnso_bio_facarticles/710
ORCID ID
0000-0001-7353-8301
ResearcherID
N-1726-2015
Comments
©1996 Nature Publishing Group