Introduction of canine parvovirus 2 into wildlife on the Island of Newfoundland, Canada

Abstract Canine parvovirus-2 (CPV-2) and feline panleukopenia virus (FPV) (species Carnivore protoparvovirus 1 , family Parvoviridae ) cause a severe gastrointestinal disease associated with immune depression in a broad range of terrestrial carnivores. We report here the first molecular epidemiological investigation of protoparvoviruses on the Island of Newfoundland, Canada. In particular, we investigated red foxes ( Vulpes vulpes deletrix ) and lynx ( Lynx canadensis subsolanus ), two autochthonous species, and coyotes ( Canis latrans ), which immigrated onto the island during the 1980s. CPV-2 was identified in coyotes (3/85, 3.5%), while no viruses were found in lynx (0/38) or foxes (0/22). Based on complete genome analyses, two of the identified viruses (which were 99.98% identical to each other) were variant CPV-2b, while the third strain was a CPV-2a variant. Phylogenetic analyses showed that the CPV-2b viruses were part of a group that also included viruses identified in wildlife in the USA (including coyotes) while the CPV-2a virus clustered with viruses identified in dogs. We conclude that the CPV-2b viruses could have been introduced into Newfoundland during the immigration of coyotes, while the CPV-2a virus was possibly introduced into the coyote population from an infected dog. Although a more extended screening effort is required, our preliminary data suggest that FPV is not circulating in Newfoundland and that CPV-2 viruses have not spread from coyotes to the other investigated autochthonous wild carnivores.