| a canine distemper virus epidemic in serengeti lions (panthera leo). | canine distemper virus (cdv) is thought to have caused several fatal epidemics in canids within the serengeti-mara ecosystem of east africa, affecting silver-backed jackals (canis mesomelas) and bat-eared foxes (otocyon megalotis) in 1978 (ref. 1), and african wild dogs (lycaon pictus) in 1991 (refs 2, 3). the large, closely monitored serengeti lion population was not affected in these epidemics. however, an epidemic caused by a morbillivirus closely related to cdv emerged abruptly in the lion p ... | 1996 | 8559247 |