Vaccination-induced distemper in kinkajous
Kazacos, K.R.; Thacker, H.L.; Shivaprasad, H.L.; Burger, P.P.
Journal of the American Veterinary Medical Association 179(11): 1166-1169
1981
ISSN/ISBN: 0003-1488 PMID: 7199035 Document Number: 175124
Following vaccination for distemper, using a modified live-virus vaccine developed for dogs, 2 young kinkajous (Potos flavus) developed diarrhoea, then central nervous system disease. Clinical signs included myoclonus, head trembling, loss of muscular co-ordination, and convulsions. One kinkajou gradually recovered; the other seemed to recover, then relapsed and was killed. Microscopic lesions included those of interstitial pneumonia and enteritis and multifocal lymphocytic inflammation, gliosis, spongiosis, and swollen and degenerating axons in the cerebral, cerebellar, and brain stem white matter. Similar lesions were found at all spinal cord levels, with the most severe lesions caudally, as exemplified by complete destruction of the dorsal funiculi and dorsal horns of the grey matter of the upper sacral cord segments. Eosinophilic intranuclear inclusions were seen histologically in the glia in the spinal cord, midbrain, and cerebellum, and were confirmed as canine distemper viral inclusions by the fluorescent antibody method. It was concluded that modified live canine distemper virus vaccines should be used with caution or not at all in kinkajous.