Prevalence of Eight Viruses in Captive Amur Tigers (panthera Tigris Altaica) from Harbin, China

ABSTRACTThe Amur tiger, a flagship species in wildlife conservation in China, was the focus of this study, which is aimed at detecting viral infections that could threaten the survival of this population. A total of 60 Amur tigers were examined, including 21 blood samples and 60 nasopharyngeal swab samples. Various PCR methods were used to detect the viruses: standard PCR was applied to identify feline parvovirus (FPV), nested PCR for feline herpesvirus‐1 (FHV‐1), feline calicivirus (FCV), feline coronavirus (FCoV), feline leukemia virus (FeLV), feline immunodeficiency virus (FIV), and qPCR for canine distemper virus (CDV) and influenza A virus (IAV). The results showed that 70.0% (42/60) of the tigers tested positive for at least one viral infection. Specifically, the prevalence of FPV, FHV‐1, and FCoV were 14.3% (3/21), 26.7% (16/60), and 56.7% (34/60), respectively. A co‐infection rate of 21.4% (9/42) was observed among infected tigers. No positive results were found for FCV, FIV, FeLV, CDV, or IAV. Overall, this is the first study to detect the presence of FCoV in Amur tigers in China and confirms their exposure to FPV, FHV‐1, and FCoV.