Seasonal recurrence of cowpox virus outbreaks in captive cheetahs (Acinonyx jubatus).

ABSTRACT: Cowpox virus infections in captive cheetahs (Acinonyx jubatus) with high morbidity and mortality have already been reported in the UK and Russia in the 1970s. However, most of the reported cases have been singular events. Here, we report a total of five cowpox virus outbreaks in cheetahs in the same safari park in Denmark between 2010 and 2014. Nine cheetahs showed varying severity of clinical disease; two of them died (22%). All episodes occurred between August and October of the respective year. No other carnivores kept at the same institution nor the keepers taking care of the animals were clinically affected. The clinical picture of cowpox was confirmed by extensive laboratory investigations including histopathological and molecular analyses as well as cell culture isolation of a cowpo

SUBMITTER: Stagegaard J 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5679633 | biostudies-literature | 2017

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature