Serologic Survey for Selected Disease Agents in Wolves (Canis Lupus) From Alaska and the Yukon Territory, 1984–2000

Abstract

Wolves (Canis lupus) were captured in several geographic areas of Alaska (USA) and the Yukon Territory (Canada) during 1984-2000. Blood was collected from 1,122 animals. Sera were tested for antibodies against infectious canine hepatitis virus (ICH), canine distemper virus (CDV), canine parvovirus (CPV), Francisella tularensis, and serovars of Leptospira interrogans. Antibody prevalence for ICH was Ͼ84% for all areas. Area-specific prevalences of antibodies ranged from 12% to 70% for CPV, from 0% to 41% for CDV, and from 4% to 21% for F. tularensis. There was no evidence of CDV exposure at the two southernmost locations in Alaska. Prevalence of antibodies for ICH increased slightly during the 16-yr course of the survey. There was essentially no evidence of exposure to L. interrogans. Prevalences of antibodies for both CPV and CDV were age-specific, with higher values in the adult cohort compared with the pup cohort. There were no sex-specific differences in prevalence of antibodies for any of the five disease agents.

Prevalence of Antibodies to Canine Parvovirus and Distemper Virus in Wolves in the Canadian Rocky Mountains

“…There were important and consistent effects of age and sex class on CPV and CDV antibody prevalence that were also similar to previous studies. As reported elsewhere, exposure to both CDV and CPV was higher in wolves .2 yr old (Zarnke et al, 2004;Sobrino et al, 2008). The fact that no pups or yearlings showed exposure to CDV, compared to CPV, is likely a function of the higher virulence of CDV and resultant high mortality among pups, which goes undetected in serologic tests (Almberg et al, 2009).…”

“…The fact that no pups or yearlings showed exposure to CDV, compared to CPV, is likely a function of the higher virulence of CDV and resultant high mortality among pups, which goes undetected in serologic tests (Almberg et al, 2009). We found weaker differences in exposure between males and females for both CPV and CDV compared to other studies (Zarnke et al, 2004).…”

“…In contrast, prevalence of CDV antibody in our study (24%) was similar to or slightly higher (9-24%) than those reported for these Only the relationship between CDV antibody prevalence and distance was statistically significant (see Table 3). same populations (Johnson et al, 1994;Zarnke et al, 2004;Sobrino et al, 2008;Almberg et al, 2009) and one population in Scandinavia (Akerstedt et al, 2010: 10%). There were important and consistent effects of age and sex class on CPV and CDV antibody prevalence that were also similar to previous studies.…”

“…Canine parvovirus is often spread through fecal-oral contact, it causes diarrhea, fever, and dehydration (Murray et al, 1999;Sobrino et al, 2008), and it infects a broad range of age classes; however, mortality primarily occurs in pups less than 4 mo old (Steinel et al, 2001;Carmichael, 2005). Canine distemper virus is a morbillivirus that infects all ages of canids (Sobrino et al, 2008), causing pneumonia, encephalitis, and sometimes death (Murray et al, 1999;Zarnke et al, 2004). Canine parvovirus has a lower case fatality rate than CDV (Murray et al, 1999).…”

“…We determined the occurrence of these pathogens in wolves at varying distances from human activity measured as distances to towns, First Nation reserves, and roads. We examined the effects of age and sex on CPV and CDV antibody prevalence (Zarnke et al, 2004), and predicted that prevalence would increase with age and home range size because of the increased likelihood of exposure in older wolves and greater exposure rates (Almberg et al, 2009). …”