Aleutian Disease

Abstract

Aleutian disease virus (ADV, Amdovirus, Parvoviridae) primarily infects farmed mustelids (mink and ferrets) but also other fur-bearing animals and humans. Three Aleutian disease (AD) cases have been described in captive striped skunks; however, little is known about the relevance of AD in free-ranging carnivores. This work describes the pathological findings and temporospatial distribution in 7 cases of AD in free-ranging striped skunks. All cases showed neurologic disease and were found in a 46-month period (2010-2013) within a localized geographical region in California. Lesions included multisystemic plasmacytic and lymphocytic inflammation (ie, interstitial nephritis, myocarditis, hepatitis, meningoencephalitis, pneumonia, and splenitis), glomerulonephritis, arteritis with or without fibrinoid necrosis in several organs (ie, kidney, heart, brain, and spleen), splenomegaly, ascites/hydrothorax, and/or encephalomalacia with cerebral microangiopathy. ADV infection was confirmed in all cases by specific polymerase chain reaction and/or in situ hybridization. The results suggest that AD is an emerging disease in free-ranging striped skunks in California.

Full genetic characterization and epidemiology of a novel amdoparvovirus in striped skunk (Mephitis mephitis)

“…Indeed, to our knowledge, SKAV is the only amdoparvovirus ever identified in skunks and more studies are necessary to evaluate whether AMDV is actually capable of infecting striped skunks and if other amdoparvoviral species can be found in these animals. Obtaining sequence data from suspected cases of Aleutian disease in skunks, including those already published if possible, 12, 14, 15 therefore has to be considered a priority, together with the development of more specific diagnostic tests.…”

“…Amdoparvoviruses have been found to be highly prevalent in skunks and, despite pathological examinations confirming lesions compatible with amdoparvoviral infection in several cases, 10, 12, 13, 14 the proportion of sub-clinical infections seems to be high, suggesting that infections in these animals are primarily asymptomatic. 10, 15 Despite their potentially fundamental role in amdoparvoviral epidemiology, only a few studies have looked at the genetic makeup of AMDV-like viruses in these animals 11, 13 and, therefore, their genetic diversity and molecular features are largely unknown.…”

First Report of Skunk Amdoparvovirus (Species Carnivore amdoparvovirus 4) in Europe in a Captive Striped Skunk (Mephitis mephitis)

“…However, in common with other amdoparvoviruses, the potential of SKAV to infect different carnivore species remains largely uncharacterized. In general, the most common lesions observed in animals infected with amdoparvoviruses comprise splenomegaly and lymphoplasmacellular inflammation in various organ systems with reports of nephritis, myocarditis, encephalitis, and pneumonia [ 5 , 10 , 26 , 27 ].…”

AMDV Vaccine: Challenges and Perspectives

“…It has been shown that AMDV can also infect different species such as ferrets, otters, polecats, foxes, racoons, skunks, dogs, cats, and mice, but the disease has only been reported to be manifested in mink. Since this virus can infect other animals, the latter can be regarded as possible reservoirs facilitating AMDV spread [ 49 , 50 , 51 , 52 , 53 ].…”

“…It has been shown that AMDV can also infect different species such as ferrets, otters, polecats, foxes, racoons, skunks, dogs, cats, and mice, but the disease has only been reported to be manifested in mink. Since this virus can infect other animals, the latter can be regarded as possible reservoirs facilitating AMDV spread [49][50][51][52][53]. At both the nucleotide and amino acid sequence levels, AMDV has an unusually high genetic variability where several strains have been identified each having a varying degree of severity of the disease [39,40].…”