Antibodies to selected pathogens in free-ranging terrestrial carnivores and marine mammals in Canada

Antibody titres to selected pathogens (canine adenovirus [CAV-2], feline herpesvirus [FHV], phocine herpesvirus [PHV-1], canine distemper virus, dolphin morbillivirus [DMV], phocine distemper virus [PDV], parainfluenza virus type 3 [PI3], rabies virus, dolphin rhabdovirus [DRV], canine coronavirus, feline coronavirus, feline leukaemia virus, Borrelia burgdorferi and Toxoplasma gondii) were determined in whole blood or serum samples from selected free-ranging terrestrial carnivores and marine mammals, including cougars (Fellis concolor), lynxes (Fellis lynx), American badgers (Taxidea taxus), fishers (Martes pennanti), wolverines (Gulo gulo), wolves (Canis lupus), black bears (Ursus americanus), grizzly bears (Ursus arctos), polar bears (Ursus maritimus), walruses (Odobenus rosmarus) and belugas (Delphinapterus leucas), which had been collected at several locations in Canada between 1984 and 2001. Antibodies to a number of viruses were detected in species in which these infections have not been reported before, for example, antibodies to CAV-2 in walruses, to PDV in black bears, grizzly bears, polar bears, lynxes and wolves, to DMV in grizzly bears, polar bears, walruses and wolves, to PI3 in black bears and fishers, and to DRV in belugas and walruses.