title: Detection of antibody to canine distemper virus in wild raccoons (Procyon lotor) in Japan.
abstract: Canine distemper virus (CDV) causes a lethal disease among members of the Carnivora. To clarify the distribution of CDV in wild animals, we examined 106 raccoon sera collected from two prefectures in Japan, Hyogo and Osaka, from 2005 to 2007. Among them, 34 raccoons (32.1%) possessed a virus-neutralizing (VN) antibody to KDK-1 strain (genotype Asia-1). There was no significant difference in seroprevalence of CDV regardless of places, gender, and body weights. In Hyogo, a geometric mean of VN titers to KDK-1 was significantly higher than that to Onderstepoort (vaccine strain), indicating that KDK-1-like CDV different from vaccine strain might have spread among raccoon population in Hyogo. In conclusion, CDV is epidemic among feral raccoons in Japan, suggesting that CDV might have been spreading among Japanese wild animals.
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Veterinary Microbiology, Faculty of Agriculture, Yamaguchi University, 1677-1 Yoshida, Yamaguchi 753-8515, Japan.
authors.forename: Hitoshi
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Nakano
authors.forename: Yuki
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Kameo
authors.forename: Hiroshi
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Sato
authors.forename: Masami
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Mochizuki
authors.forename: Mayumi
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Yokoyama
authors.forename: Shigehiko
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Uni
authors.forename: Takahiro
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Shibasaki
authors.forename: Ken
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Maeda
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D000914:Antibodies, Viral / Q000097:blood*; D004216:Distemper / Q000453:epidemiology*; D004217:Distemper Virus, Canine / Q000276:immunology*; D005260:Female; D007564:Japan / Q000453:epidemiology; D008297:Male; D011821:Raccoons / Q000097:blood*; D016036:Seroepidemiologic Studies
chemical_list: D000914:Antibodies, Viral