http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/10/071025094914.htm
is a Science Daily (RECOMMENDED RESOURCE!) article on new work about
how Canine Distemper jumps across species.

Below are a few short segments. Please, see the URL for the full
article which contains more than these bare bones of info.

>ScienceDaily (Oct. 25, 2007) -- Researchers at the University of
>Leeds ... breakthrough in understanding a virus which poses one of
>the greatest global disease threats
 ...
>The discovery of how canine distemper Virus (CDV)1 jumps across and
>infects different species of carnivores could lead to a more
>effective monitoring and control of the virus.
>Whilst these 'pathogen jumps' across species are quite common, very
>little is known about the process of how viruses takes hold and
>become established in new host species.
 ...
>"The virus needs to bind to a specific receptor on cells in the host
>in order to infect it," explains lead researcher, PhD student Alex
>McCarthy, from the University's Faculty of Biological Sciences. "But
>the sequences of receptors vary between species, so a virus from one
>species shouldn't be able recognise and infect the cells of other
>species."
 ...
>By analysing the virus' genetic sequence in both dog and wild
>carnivore species, the research team were able to prove that two key
>parts of a CDV protein specifically involved in receptor recognition
>had evolved during the host jumps
 ...
>The spread and incidences of CDV epidemics are increasing, due to
>globalisation and the rise in the domestic and feral dog populations
>associated with growing human populations, especially where these
>impinge on previously undisturbed habitats. "CDV in wild carnivore
>populations is usually fatal" says McCarthy. ...as well as the
>possibility of developing new therapies, the techniques used in this
>research offer a way of predicting when local virus isolates may
>become capable of causing... [an] epidemic in species of conservation
>concern."

Related abstract:
>Proc Biol Sci. 2007 Oct 23; [Epub ahead of print]
>Pathogen evolution and disease emergence in carnivores.
>
>McCarthy AJ, Shaw MA, Goodman SJ.
>Institute of Integrative and Comparative Biology, Faculty of
>Biological Sciences, University of Leeds, Leeds LS2 9JT, UK.
>
>Emerging infectious diseases constitute some of the most pressing
>problems for both human and domestic animal health, and biodiversity
>conservation. Currently it is not clear whether the removal of past
>constraints on geographical distribution and transmission
>possibilities for pathogens alone are sufficient to give rise to novel
>host-pathogen combinations, or whether pathogen evolution is also
>generally required for establishment in novel hosts. Canine distemper
>virus (CDV) is a morbillivirus that is prevalent in the world dog
>population and poses an important conservation threat to a diverse
>range of carnivores. We performed an extensive phylogenetic and
>molecular evolution analysis on complete sequences of all CDV genes
>to assess the role of selection and recombination in shaping viral
>genetic diversity and driving the emergence of CDV in non-dog hosts.
>We tested the specific hypothesis that molecular adaptation at known
>receptor-binding sites of the haemagglutinin gene is associated with
>independent instances of the spread of CDV to novel non-dog hosts in
>the wild. This hypothesis was upheld, providing compelling evidence
>that repeated evolution at known functional sites (in this case
>residues 530 and 549 of the haemagglutinin molecule) is associated
>with multiple independent occurrences of disease emergence in a range
>of novel host species.
> PMID: 17956850 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher]


More on CDV ahead of print (Shelters and vets will love these.):
>J Virol Methods. 2007 Oct 19; [Epub ahead of print]
>An immunochromatography assay for rapid antemortem diagnosis of
>dogs suspected to have canine distemper.
>
>An DJ, Kim TY, Song DS, Kang BK, Park BK.
>National Veterinary Research and Quarantine Service, Anyang,
>Kyunggi-do 430-824, Republic of Korea.
>
>A new assay was developed for rapid and antemortem diagnosis of
>canine distemper (CD). This immunochromatography (IC)-based assay,
>which employs two monoclonal anti-CDV antibodies, was compared with
>nested PCR. When serial dilutions of purified CDV were tested, the
>CDV detection limits of the nested PCR and IC assays were 2x10(2)
>TCID(50)/ml and 5x10(2)TCID(50)/ml, respectively. Nasal irrigation
>fluid, conjunctival swabs, and blood lymphocytes from 66 dogs
>suspected to have CD were tested. Preliminary IC experiments revealed
>that the optimal sample volume and reaction time were 100mul and 5min,
>respectively. Relative to nested PCR, the sensitivity and specificity
>of the IC assay was maximal (100% and 100%, respectively) when
>conjunctival swabs were tested. This is significant because
>conjunctival swab specimens are easy to obtain in the early phase of
>CD infection. However, with blood lymphocytes and nasal samples, the
>IC assay was slightly less sensitive (89.7% and 85.7%, respectively)
>and specific (94.6% and 100%, respectively) than nested PCR. Since
>this novel IC assay does not require special instruments, it is a
>simple enough for dog owners to use. Since early detection of CD would
>allow appropriate treatment and quarantine to be instituted quickly,
>such a test would help reduce the morbidity and mortality associated
>with CD help to prevent its spread to other animals.

> PMID: 17950910 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher]
>Antiviral Res. 2007 Oct 8; [Epub ahead of print]
>In vitro efficacy of ribavirin against canine distemper virus.
>
>Elia G, Belloli C, Cirone F, Lucente MS, Caruso M, Martella V,
>Decaro N, Buonavoglia C, Ormas P.
>Department of Animal Health and Well-being, Faculty of Veterinary
>Medicine of Bari, S.p. per Casamassima km 3, 70010 Valenzano, Bari,
>Italy.
>
>Despite vaccination, canine distemper virus (CDV) remains one of
>the important pathogen of dogs with worldwide distribution. Ribavirin
>(RIB) inhibits replication of measles virus (MV), a morbillivirus
>closely related to CDV, both in vitro and in vivo. In this report the
>antiviral activity of RIB against CDV in cell cultures was assessed.
>Quantitative real-time RT-PCR was used to measure viral RNA in VERO
>cells infected by CDV and to evaluate the inhibitory effects of RIB.
>RIB caused a dose- and time-dependent decrease in accumulation of CDV
>RNA when added after virus adsorption. RIB was highly effective in
>preventing CDV replication at low concentrations with 50%
>virus-inhibitory concentrations ranging from 0.02 to 0.05mM. Such low
>values were comparable to values displayed by highly susceptible
>strains of MV. In addition, CDV was passaged sequentially in VERO cell
>monolayers in the presence of RIB to trigger viral extinction. The
>virus was no longer detected after three passages, suggesting that
>error catastrophe is one of the modes of action of RIB against CDV.
>These findings suggest RIB as a promising tool for the therapy of CD
>in dogs.
> PMID: 17949825 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher]

In addition, the first ever documented case of Canine Distemper in a
Siberian Tiger has occurred which may lead to questions if a strain of
the virus has altered there. It was found in a wild Siberian Tiger in
the Russian Far East. In recent decades there have been devastating
cases involving the Black Footed Ferret, lions, and leopards in some
regions, usually with it thought that the disease spreading because of
unvaccinated domestic dogs outside.

BTW, skunk people here might want to see:
J Zoo Wildl Med. 2007 Sep;38(3):388-99.
Suppurative polyarthritis in striped skunks (Mephitis mephitis) from
Cape Cod, Massachusetts: detection of mycoplasma DNA.
Ganley-Leal LM, Brown C, Tulman ER, Bergman L, Hinckley L, Johnson
KH, Liu X, Van Kruiningen HJ, Frasca S Jr.

Sukie (not a vet)
Recommended ferret health links:
http://pets.groups.yahoo.com/group/ferrethealth/
http://ferrethealth.org/archive/
http://www.afip.org/ferrets/index.html
http://www.miamiferret.org/fhc/
http://www.ferretcongress.org/
http://www.trifl.org/index.shtml
http://homepage.mac.com/sukie/sukiesferretlinks.html

[Posted in FML 5772]