Seasonal recurrence of cowpox virus outbreaks in captive cheetahs (Acinonyx jubatus)

Stagegaard, Julia; Kurth, Andreas; Stern, Daniel; Dabrowski, Piotr Wojciech; Pocknell, Ann; Nitsche, Andreas; Schrick, Livia

With almost yearly poxvirus outbreaks in the cheetahs since 2011, the area is currently considered endemic for CPXV. As the morbidity and mortality are rather low compared to those in other reports, the only applied husbandry change has been basic MVA vaccination of cheetahs born in the zoo (2 ml twice with 4-week interval, first vaccination at an age of 8 weeks for handling reasons) and yearly booster vaccinations of all adult cheetahs (2 ml once). Animals other than cheetah are currently not vaccinated at the institution. Modification of enclosure design, increased pest control, and aggressive treatment in the case of CPXV infections have not been applied. However, as vaccination has not prevented clinical infection, a 4-week preshipment quarantine for all cheetahs that leave the institution has been made obligatory. The quarantined animals are kept inside a stable from the day a first blood sample is taken until the day they leave. After four weeks, a second blood sample is drawn. The samples are tested for OPV antibodies by IFA. No change or a decrease in antibodies is considered to be negative for signs of current infection. To date, preshipment quarantine at Ree Park is only carried out in cheetahs. Whether the preshipment quarantine should be extended to other species remains the subject of discussion.