Molecular characterization of complete genome of a canine distemper virus associated with fatal infection in dogs in Gabon, Central Africa

•Detection of Canine Distemper Virus (CDV) in German Shepherd dogs in Gabon, Central Africa.•Whole genome sequence analysis revealed the Gabonese CDV strain was assigned to the Europe genotype.•The first molecular detection of the CDV strain associated with this fatal distemper infection in Central Africa. Canine distemper (CD) is the most deadly disease in dogs with mortality rates reaching 50%. The pathological agent, the CD virus (CDV), generally causes a severe systemic disease, although the nervous form can coexist with the acute catarrhal form in the same individual. In this study, we describe an outbreak of 18 cases of CD that occurred in 2015 in a German Shepherd dog population in northwestern Gabon. In addition, we determined the sequence of the CDV genotype associated with this fatal distemper infection in Gabon and compared it with other published CDV sequences. The CDV was detected using RT-PCR on cDNA from RNA of harvested brains and other organs. The identification was confirmed by sequencing amplicons. Moreover, we obtained the whole genome sequence using high-throughput sequencing. Phylogenetic analysis revealed that Gabonese CDV strain clustered with European strains belonging to the Europe genotype. This study provided the first molecular detection of the CDV strain associated with this fatal distemper infection in Central Africa region.