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Survey on viral pathogens in wild red foxes (Vulpes vulpes) in Germany with emphasis on parvoviruses and analysis of a DNA sequence from a red fox parvovirus

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 October 1998

U. TRUYEN
Affiliation:
Institute for Medical Microbiology, Infectious and Epidemic Diseases University of Munich; Veterinaerstr. 13; 80539 Munich, Germany
T. MÜLLER
Affiliation:
Federal Research Institute for Viral Diseases of Animals, Seestr. 55, 16868 Wusterhausen, Germany
R. HEIDRICH
Affiliation:
State Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory, Fuerstenwalder Poststrasse 73, 15234 Frankfurt/Oder, Germany
K. TACKMANN
Affiliation:
Federal Research Institute for Viral Diseases of Animals, Seestr. 55, 16868 Wusterhausen, Germany
L. E. CARMICHAEL
Affiliation:
James A. Baker Institute for Animal Health, New York State College of Veterinary Medicine, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY 14853, USA
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Abstract

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The seroprevalence of canine parvovirus (CPV), canine distemper virus (CDV), canine adenovirus (CAV) and canine herpesvirus (CHV) infections in red foxes (Vulpes vulpes) was determined in fox sera collected between 1991 and 1995. A total of 500 sera were selected and the seroprevalences were estimated to be 13% (65 of 500 sera) for CPV, 4·4% (17 of 383 sera) for CDV, 3·5% (17 of 485 sera) for CAV, and 0·4% (2 of 485 sera) for CHV, respectively. No statistically significant differences were observed between the two (rural and suburban) areas under study.

Parvovirus DNA sequences were amplified from tissues of free-ranging foxes and compared to those of prototype viruses from dogs and cats. We report here a parvovirus sequence indicative of a true intermediate between the feline panleukopenia virus-like viruses and the canine parvovirus-like viruses. The red fox parvoviral sequence, therefore, appears to represent a link between those viral groups. The DNA sequence together with a significant seroprevalence of parvovirus infections in foxes supports the hypothesis that the sudden emergence of canine parvovirus in the domestic dog population may have involved the interspecies transmission between wild and domestic carnivores.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
© 1998 Cambridge University Press