Fatal outbreak in a small lion (Panthera leo) group caused by feline parvovirus in Hungary. Case report.

Feline parvovirus (FPV) induced disease in cats has been known since the beginning of the 20th century. Despite initial observations, it has been demonstrated that lions (Panthera leo) may also be infected and develop clinical disease. The carcass of a 1.5 years old lioness that prior to death showed various clinical signs, including diarrhoea, walking in circles and in the final stages of the diseases refusal of movement and lack of response to external stimuli, was examined for diagnostic purposes. Other three animals that lived with the examined lioness presented similar clinical signs and died. The macroscopic and histopathologic examinations revealed the likelihood of a parvovirus infection with secondary complications (penetrating ulceration of the duodenum, necrotizing myositis, cerebral oedema etc.). A polymerase chain reaction based diagnostic test confirmed the parvovirus infection, while the nucleic acid sequence analysis of the VP2 gene identified the pathogen as an FPV strain more closely related to a German isolate (U22188) than to Hungarian FPV strains. The present work discusses the unfortunate consequences of the neglecting prophylactic immunization of susceptible exotic animals that could be in contact with other, free-roaming animals.