Case Dana Altenburger, MD Anne Chauvet, DVM Fidelma Kennedy, DVM Gary S Pearl, MD, PhD

History The patient is a late teen male Bengal tiger that presented with a few week history of loss of balance and jaw drop MRI and labs were non-contributory Infectious disease titers were negative for tick borne disease and canine distemper virus He continued to decline, progressing to semicoma and euthanasia was elected

Additional Information The brain weight was 230 g There was a small meningioma The brain was otherwise grossly unremarkable

Gross brain

Microscopic Brain

Inclusion and Macrophages

Inclusion in spinal cord

Inclusion in Pons

These inclusions were located in the cerebellum, pons, medulla and cervical spinal cord Cortex was spared

Discussion

LFB/PAS

Immunohistochemistry Click to edit Master text styles Second level Third level Fourth level Fifth level CDV

Canine Distemper Virus Is a highly infectious morbillivirus within the paramyxovirus family Family includes measles Known to cause serious disease, with high mortality in susceptible species Number of species it has been known to effect has been increasing

Canine Distemper Virus Classically CDV is not pathogenic in lions and tigers First reported as far back as the 1950s in Africa First case in U.S. was in 1983 Though felines were not considered susceptible, seroconversion has been demonstrated in domestic cats with exposure to dogs with distemper Additional diagnostic aid came with the development of the CDV immunohistochemical stain Superior to inclusions alone

Risk Factors Unknown Theories include Exposure to dogs Immune suppression Concurrent illness  Viral titers may be inaccurate with CDV infection Biotype conversion of an otherwise self-limited infection

Additional Considerations CDV vaccination should be considered in animals with potential for exposure

Comments Dr Summers Utility of CDV titers? Additional comments

6/14/10 Comments by Dr. Brian Summers

6/14/ BENGAL TIGER

6/14/ DISTEMPER ENCEPHALITIS IN A LION

6/14/ DISTEMPER IN A LION (GIANT CELL PNEUMONIA)

6/14/ REVIEW

6/14/10

Tanzania Serengeti National Park, 1994 Ngorongono Crater, 2001

6/14/10

References Palmer DG, Huxtable CRR and Thomas JB: Immunohistochemical demonstration of canine distemper virus antigen as an aid in the diagnosis of canine distemper encephalomyelitis. Research in Veterinary Science 49: , 1990 Myers DL, Zurbriggen A, Lutz H and Pospischil A: Distemper: not a new disease in lions and tigers. Clin Diagn Lab Immunol 4: , 1997 Blythe LL, Schmitz JA, Roelke M and Skinner S: Chronic encephalomyelitis caused by canine distemper virus in a Bengal tiger. JAVMA 183: , Wood SL, Thomson GW and Haines DM: Canine distemper virus- like infection in a captive African lioness. Vet J 36: 34-35, 1995.