PREVALENCE OF CANINE DISTEMPER VIRUS IN CANIDS IN CENTRAL ITALY AND FIRST IDENTIFICATION OF ARCTIC LINEAGE IN MARCHE AND UMBRIA REGIONS: A PRELIMINARY STUDY

• Main Authors: C. Canonico, G. Angeloni, M. Gobbi, C. Pesca, F. Morandi, S. Preziuso, S. Gavaudan
• Other Authors: Canonico, C., Angeloni, G., Gobbi, M., Pesca, C., Morandi, F., Preziuso, S., Gavaudan, S.
• Format: Conference Object
• Language: English
• Published: SISVET 2017
• Subjects: Arctic; Canis lupus
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/11581/405242; http://www.sisvet.it/eventi/2017/doc/atti2017.pdf

Canine distemper virus (CDV) is one of the most commonly virus implicated in outbreaks in wild and domestic carnivores. CDV causes severe systemic diseases which normally involves the respiratory, gastrointestinal and nervous systems. To our knowledge the literature about the real incidence of such disease is scarce, particularly in wild animals population. Recently, outbreaks of CDV have been documented in Italian grey wolves (Canis lupus italicus) [1], a least concerned species in IUCN Red List. Therefore, the surveillance of CDV is a priority for the conservation of the wolves and, more generally, for the protection of wild carnivores which are widespread in Central Italy, especially in the National Parks. In total, 215 samples, belonging to 148 canids for CDV presence, were analysed from November 2012 to December 2016 in the laboratory of IZSUM. Of these, 37.2% were dogs, 33% wolves and 29.8% foxes. Animals were collected in 12 different provinces of 6 Regions: Umbria, Marche, Emilia Romagna, Tuscany, Lazio and Apulia. All samples were collected from dead animals which were sent to the Diagnostic Units of Istituto Zoprofilattico Sperimentale Umbria e Marche and subjected to autopsy. The RNA was extracted from organ pools and swabs with a commercial kit, retrotranscripted to cDNA and amplified by the real time PCR with QuantiFast SYBR Green RT PCR kit (Qiagen GmbH, Hilden, Germany) using primers for a fragment of 278bp in CDV nucleoprotein (NP) gene [2]. Samples having a melting temperature (TM) value ±0.5°C versus TM value of positive control were considered positive. Moreover, samples were visualized by UV rays with GelRed TM (Biotium Inc.) after electrophoresis in agarose gels and bands of appropriate sizes were excised, extracted and sequenced. Sequences obtained (n=11) were aligned with NP gene sequences of CDV available in GenBank by MUSCLE. Molecular phylogenetic analysis (MEGA 7.0) was carried out by using Maximum Likelihood method based on the Tamura 3-parameter model. The CDV RNA was identified in ...