It is clear from the video that the lion is in no state to hunt or feed, and it won't surprise you to learn that the lion is thought to have become the victim of predation from the other lions on the Serengeti. After infection, the virus replicates in the lymphatic tissue associated with the respiratory tract mucosa. Once the virus has infected these organs, disease will result due to the replication of the virus in these cells. Clinical Signs 2 phases of fever. The first occurs a few days after infection with CDV, and then subsequently subsides.
Several days pass before the second fever occurs which can last more than a week.
These convulsions become more and more frequent with paddling movements of the legs, urination and defaecation. Material from the ocular discharge, or from the respiratory tract, or the buffy coat of a centrifuged blood sample can be examined using immunofluorescent assay of viral antigen. Where there are antibodies present, there may be a negative result to immunofluorescence, so in cases where there is a suspicion of CDV infection but immunofluorescence has returned a negative result, a blood sample can also be assayed for IgM to the virus. Differentials in domestic dogs include leptospirosis, canine hepatitis, and lead poisoning. This selection of animals with immune systems fast enough to respond would explain why 1,000 out of 3,000 Serengeti lions died, but the others weren't recorded as being affected.