SURVEY ON VIRAL PATHOGENS IN WILD RED FOXES (VULPES-VULPES) IN GERMANY WITH EMPHASIS ON PARVOVIRUSES AND ANALYSIS OF A DNA-SEQUENCE FROM A RED FOX PARVOVIRUS

The seroprevalence of canine parvovirus (CPV), canine distemper virus (CDV), canine adenovirus (CAV) and canine herpesvirus (CHV) infections in red foxes (Vulpes vulpes) was determined in fox sera collected bet ween 1991 and 1995. A total of 500 sera were selected and the seroprev alences were estimated to be 13% (65 of 500 sera) for CPV, 4.4% (17 of 383 sera) for CDV, 3.5% (17 of 485 sera) for CAV, and 0.4% (2 of 485 sera) for CHV, respectively. No statistically significant differences were observed between the two (rural and suburban) areas under study. Parvovirus DNA sequences were amplified from tissues of free-ranging f oxes and compared to those of prototype viruses from dogs and cats. We report here a parvovirus sequence indicative of a true intermediate b etween the feline panleukopenia virus-like viruses and the canine parv ovirus-like viruses. The red fox parvoviral sequence, therefore, appea rs to represent a link between those viral groups. The DNA sequence to gether with a significant seroprevalence of parvovirus infections in f oxes supports the hypothesis that the sudden emergence of canine parvo virus in the domestic dog population may have involved the interspecie s transmission between wild and domestic carnivores.