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Cryptosporidiosis is an intestinal protozoal disease of public health importance caused by Cryptosporidium spp. Despite the high synanthropism of raccoons, studies describing the pathology of Cryptosporidium spp. infections in this species are lacking. Therefore, we characterized the pathology of cryptosporidiosis in 2 juvenile raccoons. In addition, we conducted a retrospective search of the database of the California Animal Health and Food Safety laboratory for 1990-2019 and found 6 additional cases of cryptosporidiosis in raccoons. Sequencing of cryptosporidia was performed in one autopsied raccoon, and PCR on formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded tissues in archived cases. The Cryptosporidium skunk genotype (CSkG), a strain of zoonotic relevance, was detected in 6 of 8 cases (75%). Frequently, cryptosporidiosis was associated with enteritis, eosinophilic infiltrates, villus atrophy or blunting and/or fusion, and crypt abscesses or necrosis. In 7 of the 8 cases, there was confirmed concurrent coinfection with canine distemper virus; 1 case was coinfected with canine parvovirus. Although crypt necrosis is considered a classic lesion of canine parvoviral infection in mesocarnivores and not a hallmark of cryptosporidiosis, results suggest that canine distemper virus is capable of mimicking such lesions in combination with cryptosporidia and immunosuppression.

Canine parvovirus 2 (CPV2) causes one of the most serious canine viral infections, with high mortality in young dogs. In 2014, 2019, and 2021, we determined genetic sequences of CPV2 strains obtained from 39 fecal samples collected from the Yanbian Korean Autonomous Prefecture in the Jilin Province of China. Sequence alignments were performed using the major capsid protein (VP2) gene; protein sequences of these samples had high nucleotide (>97.4%) and amino acid (>95.6%) identity. All of the amino acid sequences contained Ser297Ala and Tyr324Ile mutations. Our survey indicated a high prevalence of CPV2 variants in Yanbian Prefecture, with the new CPV2a variant (26 of 39; 67%) being the most frequent. CPV2c, identified in 9 of 39 (23%) samples, had not been detected in this region previously, indicating the potential risk of CPV2 mutation. The sequences of our 39 CPV2 samples were more highly homologous to the published Chinese strains than to the CPV2 variant strains found in other countries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Concurrent Clostridium piliforme and canine distemper virus (CDV) infection was diagnosed in 2 canine littermates and 1 gray fox kit from Texas, USA. In all 3 animals, intracytoplasmic, filamentous bacteria, consistent with C. piliforme, were present along the margins of foci of hepatic necrosis. Additional histologic findings included intracytoplasmic and intranuclear inclusion bodies in bile duct and bronchial epithelial cells of the fox kit, and mild intestinal necrosis in 1 puppy. PCR assays confirmed the presence of C. piliforme in all 3 animals, CDV in both puppies, and canine parvovirus in 1 puppy. Fluorescent antibody testing confirmed the presence of CDV in the fox kit. Concurrent canine distemper and Tyzzer disease in canine littermates and the gray fox has not been reported previously, to our knowledge. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Coronavirus infection can cause a range of syndromes, which in dogs can include mild-to-severe enteritis that generally resolves rapidly. Fatalities can occur from coinfection with other pathogens, including canine parvovirus. Between late December 2019 and April 2020, canine coronavirus (CCoV) was detected in Australian racing Greyhounds that displayed signs of gastrointestinal disease. The CCoV was genotyped using high-throughput sequencing, recovering 98.3% of a type IIb CCoV, generally thought to cause a mild but highly contagious enteric disease. The Australian CCoV was almost identical (99.9%, whole-genome sequence) to another CCoV associated with an outbreak of severe vomiting in dogs in the United Kingdom at the same time (December 2019–March 2020). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Eight of 9 juvenile raccoons at a rehabilitation center died without obvious prior clinical signs. Gross changes were unremarkable except for mildly distended intestines. Microscopically, crypt loss, distension, necrosis, and regeneration with intranuclear viral inclusions were observed in the small intestine, with marked lymphoid depletion and necrosis in Peyer patches and mesenteric lymph nodes. Immunohistochemistry with a canine parvovirus antibody showed intensive signals of parvoviral antigens in the crypts and lymphoid germinal centers. Metagenomic sequencing allowed assembly of a complete parvoviral genome with >99% identity to canine parvovirus 2a, as well as Salmonella enterica subsp. enterica. Also, S. enterica subsp. enterica serovar Thompson with multiple antimicrobial resistance was isolated from the intestinal contents. Concurrent infection with parvovirus and Salmonella should be included as a differential diagnosis in raccoons with sudden death. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A juvenile raccoon was euthanized because of severe neurologic signs. At postmortem examination, no significant gross lesions were present. Histologic evaluation demonstrated nonsuppurative encephalitis in thalamus, brainstem, and hippocampus, cerebellar Purkinje cell loss, as well as poliomyelitis and demyelination of the spinal cord. Parvovirus antigen–specific immunohistochemistry revealed immunopositive neurons in the brainstem, cerebral cortex, and hippocampus. A few Purkinje cells were also immunopositive. DNA extracted from formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded brain tissue (thalamus, hippocampus, cerebral cortex) yielded a positive signal using PCR targeting both feline and canine parvovirus. Sequencing analyses from a fragment of the NS1 gene and a portion of the VP2 gene confirmed the presence of DNA of a recent canine parvovirus variant (CPV-2a–like virus) in the cerebellum. Our case provides evidence that a recent canine parvovirus (CPV) strain (Carnivore protoparvovirus 1) can infect cerebral and diencephalic neurons and cause encephalitis in an otherwise healthy raccoon. Parvovirus-induced encephalitis is a differential diagnosis of rabies and canine distemper in raccoons with neurologic signs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Canine parvovirus 2 (CPV-2) and feline panleukopenia virus (FPLV) often cause acute enteric disease in their hosts. A simple, rapid, and effective method for the on-site detection of these viruses would be useful. We used a denaturation bubble-mediated strand exchange amplification (SEA) method to successfully detect CPV-2 and FPLV in fecal samples. SEA could detect as little as 3.6 pg/μL of CPV-2 and 6.6 pg/μL of FPLV genomic DNA following a 40-min incubation at an isothermal temperature of 61°C. Unlike PCR, SEA does not require complicated equipment, and positive samples produce a color change that can be visualized by the naked eye. Additionally, SEA is simpler than PCR because no extraction is needed, and heating of the fecal sample at 98°C can be performed with a heating block or water bath. This rapid and effective nucleic acid detection platform could be used as a point-of-care test for the detection of CPV-2 and FPLV. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A juvenile raccoon (Procyon lotor) was submitted dead to the Minnesota Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory for rabies testing without history. The animal had marked hypoplasia of the cerebellum. Histology demonstrated that most folia lacked granule cells and had randomly misplaced Purkinje cells. Immunohistochemistry revealed the presence of parvoviral antigen in a few neurons and cell processes. PCR targeting feline and canine parvovirus yielded a positive signal. Sequencing analyses from a fragment of the nonstructural protein 1 (NS1) gene and a portion of the viral capsid protein 2 (VP2) gene confirmed the presence of DNA of a recent canine parvovirus variant (CPV-2a–like virus) in the cerebellum. Our study provides evidence that (canine) parvovirus may be associated with cerebellar hypoplasia and dysplasia in raccoons, similar to the disease that occurs naturally and has been reproduced experimentally by feline parvoviral infection of pregnant cats, with subsequent intrauterine or neonatal infections of the offspring. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A concurrent outbreak of infection by canine parvovirus 2b (CPV-2b) and Clostridium difficile producing A and/or B toxins occurred in Asian small-clawed otters (Amblonyx cinereus). The 5 clinically affected otters were 6- to 24-mo-old intact females that had severe diarrhea, dehydration, were acutely comatose, and died 1–4 d after the onset of clinical signs. Postmortem examination was performed in 3 of 7 otters. Macroscopically, the small intestine was diffusely reddened and contained red-to-brown, malodorous, watery digesta without formed feces (3 of 3). Histologic examination identified loss of enterocytes and necrosis of crypt epithelial cells. Denuded villi were often covered by mixed bacterial colonies with a predominance of gram-positive cocci to short rods in addition to larger gram-positive and -negative rods. There was also splenic lymphoid follicle depletion (2 of 3). Immunofluorescence assay revealed CPV antigen in enterocytes (2 of 3), mesenteric lymph nodes (3 of 3), and spleen (1 of 3). Immunohistochemistry revealed CPV antigen in enterocytes, lymphocytes, and dendritic cells of the Peyer patches and spleen (3 of 3), and lingual epithelial cells (1 of 2). CPV was isolated from tissues from 2 of 3 otters, and DNA sequencing identified CPV-2b for the 1 isolate tested. C. difficile producing A and/or B toxins were identified in the intestinal content by ELISA (3 of 3). To our knowledge, an outbreak of CPV-2b infection and C. difficile with clinically significant gastrointestinal disease has not been described previously in otters. The source of the viral infections remains unknown; however, these agents should be considered in otters and other mesocarnivores with similar clinical and pathologic findings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A 6-wk-old managed male Arctic wolf with lethargy, drooling, dehydration, elevated temperature, and acute onset of seizures was submitted for autopsy. The wolf had been vaccinated with a multivalent vaccine exactly 2 wk prior to presentation. Grossly, long bones were brittle and easily fractured under pressure; the intestinal contents were mucoid and yellow. Histologically, there was widespread lymphoid and hematopoietic necrosis, failure of endochondral ossification within long bones, as well as intranuclear and intracytoplasmic inclusions in various tissues and cell types. Canine distemper virus was detected in numerous tissues by IHC and confirmed by RT-rtPCR and sequencing as an American-4 strain, an emerging strain in domestic dogs and wildlife species in the southeastern United States. The clinical and pathologic findings associated with this emergent CDV strain have not been reported previously in wolves, to our knowledge. Canine parvovirus 2 (CPV-2b) was also detected in the spleen by IHC and confirmed by conventional PCR as a wild-type strain. The exact impact of CPV-2b on the clinical course is unknown. Early vaccination in this case may have predisposed this Artic wolf to developing clinical disease. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A duplex rapid assay for detection of serum antibodies to canine parvovirus (CPV) was developed. Canine immunoglobulin (Ig)M or IgG were captured in immunotubes with anti-canine IgM or IgG and detected with parvovirus VP2 recombinant protein followed by an anti-VP2 monoclonal antibody. The assay was tested using a collection of sera from dogs that were vaccinated against CPV on arrival at an animal shelter in Madrid, Spain. Results were compared with those of 2 commercial enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays (ELISAs) considered as reference techniques. A high correlation was found between the duplex rapid assay and the ELISAs, presenting an accuracy of 98% and 100% for IgG and IgM, respectively. According to the IgG and IgM levels at days 0–3 postvaccination, the samples were divided into 2 groups. One group of dogs showed high IgG and low IgM values at the first sampling post-vaccination and during the following 14 days, indicating that they had previously been in contact with the virus, either by vaccination or infection before arrival at the animal shelter. A second group of dogs appeared to be unvaccinated or uninfected before arrival at the animal shelter because they had negative IgM and IgG values soon after vaccination. These animals responded to vaccination, as demonstrated by seroconversion of both isotypes of immunoglobulins. The developed assay appears to be useful in determining the unknown immune status of dogs to CPV, especially in kennels and shelters where the rate of infection by CPV is relatively high. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Canine parvovirus (CPV) is one of the most common infectious agents related to high morbidity rates in dogs. In addition, the virus is associated with severe gastroenteritis, diarrhea, and vomiting, resulting in high death rates, especially in puppies and nonvaccinated dogs. To date, there are 3 variants of the virus (CPV-2a, CPV-2b, and CPV-2c) circulating worldwide. In Mexico, reports describing the viral variants circulating in dog populations are lacking. In response to this deficiency, a total of 41 fecal samples of suspected dogs were collected from October 2013 through April 2014 in the Veterinary Hospital of the University of Guadalajara in western Mexico. From these, 24 samples resulted positive by polymerase chain reaction, and the viral variant was determined by restriction fragment length polymorphism. Five positive diagnosed samples were selected for partial sequencing of the vp2 gene and codon analysis. The results demonstrated that the current dominant viral variant in Mexico is CPV-2c. The current study describes the genotyping of CPV strains, providing valuable evidence of the dominant frequency of this virus in a dog population from western Mexico. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

An epidemiological survey for Canine parvovirus 2 (CPV-2) and Canine coronavirus (CCoV) was conducted in Albania. A total of 57 fecal samples were collected from diarrheic dogs in the District of Tirana during 2011–2013. The molecular assays detected 53 and 31 CPV- and CCoV-positive specimens, respectively, with mixed CPV–CCoV infections diagnosed in 28 dogs. The most frequently detected CPV type was 2a, whereas IIa was the predominant CCoV subtype. A better comprehension of the CPV–CCoV epidemiology in eastern European countries will help to assess the most appropriate vaccination strategies to prevent disease due to infections with these widespread agents of acute gastroenteritis in the dog. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The article discusses a report which documents Canine parvovirus (CPV)-2b-associated erythema multiform (EM) in a litter of English Setter dogs from a house farm in south Georgia. Intranuclear viral inclusions were observed in multiple tissues and organs while polymerase chain reaction showed that the skin and small intestine were positive for CPV-2 and negative for Canine distemper virus (CDV). The results indicate that CPV should be considered as a possible cause of EM in dogs.

The article discusses a study seeking to characterize Canine parvovirus 2 (CPV-2) in Greece. CPV-2 is an agent that causes hemorrhagic enteritis in dogs. Standard polymerase chain reaction (PCR) was used to detect CPV-2 while minor groove binder prove assays were used to identify genetic variants. The study found that CPV-2a strains are the most common variant in the country.

Canine parvovirus 2 (CPV-2) is considered the main pathogen responsible for acute gastroenteritis in dogs, causing vomiting and hemorrhagic enteritis mainly. However, infection in cats by CPV variants causes clinical signs similar to Feline panleukopenia virus. The current study reports a case of CPV-2c in a domestic cat, in Portugal. The findings suggest that more surveys are needed to know the true prevalence and significance of cats in CPV epidemiology worldwide. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The article discusses a study on canine parvovirus 2 (CPV) distribution in Bulgaria and the first identification of the new variant CPV-2c. Forty two fecal samples from dogs with clinical signs of parvovirosis were taken from Sofia, Bulgaria between June 2009 and February 2010. The findings showed that the most prevalent type of CPV in Bulgaria is type 2a and that the occurrence of CPV-induced gastroentirities in regularly vaccinated dogs poses a question on the efficacy of currently available vaccines against the infection caused by antigenic variants.