A devastating and only recently discovered virus has now been found in America ’s wild cats . In a novel case report , scientist and wildlife functionary in Colorado document the first known U.S. infection of rustrela virus in a mountain Leo the Lion . The germ causes an unremarkably fatal neurological illness in Arabian tea called staggering disease .
In May 2023 , Colorado Parks and Wildlife officials were notified of a under the weather wild stack lion that had found its mode to a residential orbit in Douglas County , Colorado . The mountain king of beasts ’s hind peg had mostly gone limp , meaning that the Arabian tea move in the main by dragging itself with its front legs . official first tranquilized and then euthanized the animal with a gunfire to the chest to keep its brain intact for further subject area .
Early trial failed to find other known germ that can make grievous mentality infections in computerized axial tomography , such as therabies virus orToxoplasma gondii . But a detailed hereditary analysis of the cat ’s brain and spinal tissue eventually divulge the presence ofrustrela virus , officially known asRubivirus strelense .
A pair of mountain lions (Puma concolor) seen at the Izmir Wildlife Park in Turkey.Lokman Ilhan/Anadolu via Getty Images
Rustrela was only discovered several years ago . In October 2020 , researchersdetailedfinding it in animals residing at a German zoo that had come down with neurologic problem . Months before the lion decease , in February 2023 , scientists elsewherepublishedresearch appearing to confirm rustrela as the cause of staggering disease .
While rare , astonishing disease has been known to sicken domesticate and groundless felid throughout Europe since the seventies . This novel vitrine , detailedThursday in the journal emerge Infectious disease , is the first confirm report of rustrela virus and astonishing disease among CT in the U.S.
At this pointedness , there is much we do n’t know about the peril it poses to cats and other animals . The computer virus isolate from the mountain lion is fairly genetically distinct from the var. image in Europe , for case , leaving start the possibility that it ’s already autochthonic in parts of the U.S. Rustrela also seems open of infect a all-inclusive mixed bag of mammalian , but it ’s unknown whether it could potentially make hoi polloi sick . It is a close full cousin of the virus that stimulate three-day measles in humans , which canrarely cause neurological illness , especially in babies who are infected in the uterus . Rubella has been eliminated in the U.S. since 2004 thanks to a highly effective vaccine and far-flung childhood vaccination program .
A video of the sickened mountain lion captured by a homeowner in the area. Credit: Fox, et al/Emerging Infectious Diseases
“ Considering its wide host range in Europe , rustrela virus should be weigh as a movement for neurologic diseases among mammal mintage in North America , ” the researchers spell .
distressing as this find is , it also means that scientist can bulge to dig further and answer these authoritative questions .
“ Now that we know what we ’re looking for , it should be easy to find unexampled cases if they are out there , ” tell lead study author Karen Fox , a former pathologist withColorado Parks and Wildlife , in astatementfrom the agency . “With continued collaboration , we design to learn what we can from our co-worker in Europe while we proceed to reckon for new cases of staggering disease here in Colorado . ”
As part of this effort , resident who arrive across similarly sick mountain lions in the area are being asked to describe their sightings to their local wildlife ship’s officer .
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