title: A canine distemper virus epidemic in Serengeti lions (Panthera leo).
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 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.
authors.affiliation: Serengeti Wildlife Research Institute, Tanzania National Parks, Arusha, Tanzania.
authors.forename: M E
authors.initials: ME
authors.lastname: Roelke-Parker
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Munson
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Packer
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Kock
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Cleaveland
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Carpenter
authors.forename: S J
authors.initials: SJ
authors.lastname: O'Brien
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Pospischil
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Hofmann-Lehmann
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Lutz
authors.forename: G L
authors.initials: GL
authors.lastname: Mwamengele
authors.forename: M N
authors.initials: MN
authors.lastname: Mgasa
authors.forename: G A
authors.initials: GA
authors.lastname: Machange
authors.forename: B A
authors.initials: BA
authors.lastname: Summers
authors.forename: M J
authors.initials: MJ
authors.lastname: Appel
mesh_terms: D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000818:Animals; D000829:Animals, Domestic; D000835:Animals, Wild; D000914:Antibodies, Viral / Q000032:analysis; D002335:Carnivora / Q000821:virology; D004196:Disease Outbreaks / Q000662:veterinary*; D004216:Distemper / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000401:mortality / Q000473:pathology / Q000821:virology*; D004217:Distemper Virus, Canine / Q000302:isolation & purification; D004285:Dogs / Q000821:virology; D004830:Epilepsy, Tonic-Clonic / Q000473:pathology / Q000662:veterinary / Q000821:virology; D005260:Female; D007630:Kenya / Q000453:epidemiology; D008045:Lions / Q000821:virology*; D008297:Male; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D013636:Tanzania / Q000453:epidemiology
chemical_list: D000914:Antibodies, Viral