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Title: IBEX-ASSOCIATED MALIGNANT CATARRHAL FEVER IN A BONGO ANTELOPE (TRAGELAPHUS EURYCEROS)

Author
item OKESON, D - SAN ANTONIO ZOO
item GARNER, M - NORTHWEST ZOOPATH
item Taus, Naomi
item Li, Hong
item COKE, R - SAN ANTONIO ZOO

Submitted to: Journal of Zoo and Wildlife Medicine
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 6/20/2007
Publication Date: 9/1/2007
Citation: Okeson, D.M., Garner, M.M., Taus, N.S., Li, H., Coke, R.L. 2007. IBEX-ASSOCIATED MALIGNANT CATARRHAL FEVER IN A BONGO ANTELOPE (TRAGELAPHUS EURYCEROS). Journal of Zoo and Wildlife Medicine. 38(3): 460-464.

Interpretive Summary: This is a case report about a 4-year-old male bongo antelope that died after an acute clinical course associated with fever, anorexia, minor ocular and nasal discharge, and diarrhea. Histologic lesions were compatible with malignant catarrhal fever (MCF), a frequently fetal disease primarily of ruminants caused by a herpesvirus. Using PCR (a sequence amplification method), a herpesviral DNA sequence was detected in the tissues of the affected bongo. The amplified DNA sequence was nearly identical to that from a virus previously identified in Nubian ibex and the Nubian ibex that had been housed across from the bongo at the zoo. This is the first report of ibex-assiciated MCF in bongo.

Technical Abstract: A 4-yr-old male bongo antelope (Tragelaphus euryceros) died after an acute clinical course of a febrile illness, anorexia, lethargy, minor oculonasal discharge, and diarrhea. Histologic lesions were compatible with malignant catarrhal fever (MCF). Polymerase chain reaction revealed an amplified region of a herpesviral DNA polymerase gene sequence nearly identical to that of a MCF virus previously identified in Nubian ibex (Capra nubiana). The bongo had been housed across from an exhibit containing Nubian ibex that tested positive for MCF viral antibodies by competitive inhibition ELISA. Further testing of the zoo’s ibex via the PCR also revealed viral DNA sequences nearly identical to those found in the bongo’s tissues.