The basic transmission of the canine distemper virus is spread through secretions of bodily fluids, such as urine, blood feces as well as airborne transmissions, such as coughing and
sneezing by infected animals.
Combing the genetic data from a transmission study in ferrets, a team led
by Thomas Friedrich, a professor of pathobiological sciences at the University of Wisconsin - Madison School of Veterinary Medicine, found that during transmission, when one
animal is
infected by another through
sneezing or coughing, the process of natural selection acts strongly on hemagglutinin, the structure the virus uses to attach to and
infect host cells.