Peer-reviewed veterinary case report
Arctic wolf with new canine distemper and parvovirus infection
By Stilwell, Justin M et al.·Published in Journal of veterinary diagnostic investigation : official publication of the American Association of Veterinary Laboratory Diagnosticians, Inc·2019·Department of Pathology and Athens Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory, United States·View original on PubMed →
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Original publication title: Dual infection with an emergent strain of canine distemper virus and canine parvovirus in an Arctic wolf under managed care.
- Species:
- dog
Plain-English summary
A 6-week-old male Arctic wolf was found to be lethargic, drooling, dehydrated, and had a high fever, along with sudden seizures. Despite being vaccinated just two weeks earlier, the wolf was diagnosed with a dual infection of canine distemper virus and canine parvovirus. Unfortunately, the wolf's condition was severe, with brittle bones and significant tissue damage noted during an autopsy. This case highlights the potential risks of early vaccination and the emergence of new strains of these viruses. Sadly, the wolf did not survive due to the complications from these infections.
People also search for: Arctic wolf seizures · canine distemper virus symptoms · canine parvovirus treatment · wolf vaccination risks
Abstract
A 6-wk-old managed male Arctic wolf with lethargy, drooling, dehydration, elevated temperature, and acute onset of seizures was submitted for autopsy. The wolf had been vaccinated with a multivalent vaccine exactly 2 wk prior to presentation. Grossly, long bones were brittle and easily fractured under pressure; the intestinal contents were mucoid and yellow. Histologically, there was widespread lymphoid and hematopoietic necrosis, failure of endochondral ossification within long bones, as well as intranuclear and intracytoplasmic inclusions in various tissues and cell types. Canine distemper virus was detected in numerous tissues by IHC and confirmed by RT-rtPCR and sequencing as an American-4 strain, an emerging strain in domestic dogs and wildlife species in the southeastern United States. The clinical and pathologic findings associated with this emergent CDV strain have not been reported previously in wolves, to our knowledge. Canine parvovirus 2 (CPV-2b) was also detected in the spleen by IHC and confirmed by conventional PCR as a wild-type strain. The exact impact of CPV-2b on the clinical course is unknown. Early vaccination in this case may have predisposed this Artic wolf to developing clinical disease.
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Search related cases →Original publication on PubMed: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/31113289/