ANTIGENIC AND GENOMIC CHARACTERISTICS OF PARVOVIRUS ISOLATED FROM A LION (PANTHERA LEO) THAT DIED OF FELINE PANLEUKOPENIA

During the winter of 1994, 19 young lions (Panthera leo) died at an an imal park in Japan. Feline parvovirus (FPV) was isolated from lung, sp leen, liver and kidney tissues and from feces of a 5-mo-old lioness th at died during the outbreak. The FPV isolates from spleen and feces we re examined antigenically by hemagglutination inhibition using monoclo nal antibodies against feline panleukopenia virus (FPLV). Isolate geno mic DNA was analyzed by looking for restriction fragment length polymo rphism (RFLP) in polymerase chain reaction amplified capsid gene produ cts. Isolates possessed an antigenic epitope for FPLV and mink enterit is virus (MEV), and their RFLP results were the same as those of FPLV but not the same as those of MEV or canine parvovirus. These results i ndicate that the isolates are FPLV, and this is therefore the first co nfirmed case of FPLV infection in captive nondomestic Japanese felids.