Morbillivirus-associated lipid pneumonia in Arctic foxes

• Published in: Journal of Veterinary Diagnostic Investigation
• Main Authors: Stimmelmayr, Raphaela, Rotstein, David S., Maboni, Grazieli, Person, Brian T., Sanchez, Susan
• Other Authors: National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska funds
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: SAGE Publications 2018
• Subjects: Arctic; Vulpes lagopus
• Online Access: http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/1040638718797382; http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/pdf/10.1177/1040638718797382; http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full-xml/10.1177/1040638718797382

We describe lipid pneumonia in 5 of 24 Arctic foxes ( Vulpes lagopus) in association with morbillivirus infection, and lymphoid depletion in 3 of these 5 foxes. Canine distemper virus (CDV) immunohistochemistry yielded positive staining in lung, lymph nodes, spleen, adipose tissue, and renal pelvic urothelial cells in 5 cases. Liver and bone marrow samples collected from these cases tested positive for morbillivirus by reverse-transcription PCR assay. Strains belonged to the CDV Arctic lineage based on sequencing of the hemagglutinin gene followed by phylogenetic analysis. Phylogenetic analysis of the phosphoprotein gene showed that the identified CDV strains were not closely related to any previously documented strains responsible for outbreaks in different animals in other parts of the world.