Case report : Canine distemper virus infection in a wild Korean raccoon dog

A female wild raccoon dog was referred with a history of generalized seizure. Mild leukocytosis was noted on laboratory tests. Gross lesions included nasal hemorrhage, hemothorax, and hemorrhage in the urinary bladder with hematuria. Microscopically, interstitial and purulent bacterial pneumonia was observed in the lungs. In the cerebellum, characteristic eosinophilic intracytoplasmic and intranuclear inclusion bodies were found in Purkinje cells, and severe demyelination was observed in the cerebellar white matter. Canine distemper virus (CDV) infection was suspected and confirmed after detection of CDV nucleoprotein RNA in the cerebrum and the lungs by nested reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) and reverse transcription loop-mediated isothermal amplification (RT-LAMP). Based on the histopathological and molecular diagnostic findings, it was concluded that the raccoon dog was infected with CDV.