ABSTRACT
Viruses recovered from tissues taken at necropsy from American black bears were examined by use of immunofluorescence with polyclonal and monoclonal antibodies, virus neutralization with monoclonal antibodies, and restriction endonuclease analyses of the viral genomes. With these techniques, viruses were determined to be canine adenovirus type 1. Seronegative dogs that were inoculated with the virus had clinical signs typical of infectious canine hepatitis, suggesting that the virus, which was virulent for bears, was not a vaccinal strain, but a wild strain of canine adenovirus type 1.
Subject(s)
Adenoviridae Infections/veterinary , Adenoviruses, Canine/isolation & purification , Carnivora/microbiology , Hepatitis, Infectious Canine/microbiology , Ursidae/microbiology , Adenoviridae Infections/microbiology , Adenoviruses, Canine/genetics , Adenoviruses, Canine/immunology , Animals , Antibodies, Monoclonal , DNA Restriction Enzymes , DNA, Viral/analysis , Dogs , Fluorescent Antibody Technique , Neutralization TestsABSTRACT
An avidin-biotin immunoperoxidase procedure was optimized for detection of canine adenoviral antigens in formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded liver. Long-term stability of viral antigen was shown by successful demonstration of virus in liver tissue preserved up to six years from dogs with infectious canine hepatitis. This immunohistochemical stain was applied to sections from livers with a wide range of inflammatory lesions. Examination of sections from 53 dogs yielded five livers with small amounts of adenovirus. An additional virus-positive liver was identified from a dog with no hepatic inflammation. Although a cause and effect relationship remains to be determined, these findings suggest a possible connection between canine adenovirus and spontaneous chronic hepatitis.
Subject(s)
Adenoviruses, Canine/isolation & purification , Hepatitis, Infectious Canine/microbiology , Liver/microbiology , Animals , Antigens, Viral/analysis , Chronic Disease , Dogs , Female , Immunoenzyme Techniques , Male , Retrospective StudiesABSTRACT
Two cases of acute, fatal, hepatitis occurred in young, striped skunks (Mephitis mephitis) trapped in southern Ontario. Histologically, lesions in the liver were similar to infectious canine hepatitis. A virus was isolated which produced large intranuclear inclusions in dog kidney cell cultures. These inclusions were Feulgen-positive and fluoresced green with acridine orange stain. The skunk hepatitis isolate was identified as the virus of infectious canine hepatitis by virus neutralization tests.
