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Cetacean morbillivirus: current knowledge and future directions - PubMed

  • ️Wed Jan 01 2014

Review

. 2014 Dec 22;6(12):5145-81.

doi: 10.3390/v6125145.

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Review

Cetacean morbillivirus: current knowledge and future directions

Marie-Françoise Van Bressem et al. Viruses. 2014.

Abstract

We review the molecular and epidemiological characteristics of cetacean morbillivirus (CeMV) and the diagnosis and pathogenesis of associated disease, with six different strains detected in cetaceans worldwide. CeMV has caused epidemics with high mortality in odontocetes in Europe, the USA and Australia. It represents a distinct species within the Morbillivirus genus. Although most CeMV strains are phylogenetically closely related, recent data indicate that morbilliviruses recovered from Indo-Pacific bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops aduncus), from Western Australia, and a Guiana dolphin (Sotalia guianensis), from Brazil, are divergent. The signaling lymphocyte activation molecule (SLAM) cell receptor for CeMV has been characterized in cetaceans. It shares higher amino acid identity with the ruminant SLAM than with the receptors of carnivores or humans, reflecting the evolutionary history of these mammalian taxa. In Delphinidae, three amino acid substitutions may result in a higher affinity for the virus. Infection is diagnosed by histology, immunohistochemistry, virus isolation, RT-PCR, and serology. Classical CeMV-associated lesions include bronchointerstitial pneumonia, encephalitis, syncytia, and lymphoid depletion associated with immunosuppression. Cetaceans that survive the acute disease may develop fatal secondary infections and chronic encephalitis. Endemically infected, gregarious odontocetes probably serve as reservoirs and vectors. Transmission likely occurs through the inhalation of aerosolized virus but mother to fetus transmission was also reported.

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Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1

Cetacean species in which the six CeMV strains were isolated or detected by RT-PCR. (A) Common bottlenose dolphin (Tursiops truncatus), Fraser Island, Australia, 2010 (© E. Pearce); (B) Indo-Pacific bottlenose dolphin (Tursiops aduncus), Swan River, Perth, Australia, 2009 (© N. Stephens); (C) Harbour porpoise (Phocoena phocoena), Kent, UK, 2005 (© R. Deaville); (D) Long-finned pilot whale (Globicephala melas), Alicante, Spain, 2007 (© A.J. Raga); (E) Striped dolphin (Stenella coeruleoalba), Valencia, Spain, 2007 (© A.J. Raga); (F) Emaciated calf Guiana dolphin (Sotalia guianensis), Guriri, Espirito Santo, Brazil 2010 (© K. Groch); (G) Longman’s beaked whale (Indopacetus pacificus), Hawaii, US, March 2010 (© K. West, Hawaii Pacific University, NOAA Permit number 932-1905).

Figure 2
Figure 2

Phylogenetic analysis of a fragment of the morbillivirus P gene. Sequences were trimmed to include all sequence data available. Each sequence is denoted by its accession number (where available) and strain/isolate details (cetacean species, and year and geographic area of stranding). The evolutionary history of the isolates assessed was inferred using the neighbour-joining method with branch lengths in the same units as those of the evolutionary distances used to infer the phylogenetic tree. The evolutionary distances were computed using the Kimura 2-parameter method and are in the units of the number of base substitutions per site detailed with bootstrap values of >50 being shown against key nodes. The phylogeny includes 41 nucleotide sequences with a total of 253 positions in the final dataset. Evolutionary analyses were conducted in MEGA5 [35]. Abbreviations are: BWMV, beaked whale morbillivirus, DMV, dolphin morbillivirus; CeMV, cetacean morbillivirus; PMV, porpoise morbillivirus; PWMV, pilot whale morbillivirus; PPRV, peste-des-petits-ruminants virus; RPV; rinderpest virus; CDV, canine distemper virus; PDV, phocine distemper virus; MeV, measles virus; NEAt, Northeastern Atlantic Ocean; CEAt, Central Eastern Atlantic Ocean; NWAt, Northwest Atlantic Ocean; SWAt, Southwest Atlantic Ocean; Me, Mediterranean Sea; No, North Sea; NEPa, Northeastern Pacific Ocean; NWPa, Northwest Pacific Ocean; SWPa, Southwest Pacific Ocean; In, Indian Ocean.

Figure 3
Figure 3

(a) Bottlenose dolphin (Tursiops truncatus), pulmonary lymph node, DMV infection, Canary Islands, Spain, 2005 (© IUSA, ULPGC). Positive intranuclear and intracytoplasmic immunoperoxidase staining of morbilliviral antigen in mononuclear and multinucleated giant syncytial cells (arrows). Avidin-biotin-peroxidase with Harri’s hematoxylin counterstain × 250 (20 × objective); (b) Common bottlenose dolphin (Tursiops truncatus), liver and bile ductule, DMV infection, United States, 2014 (© K. Colegrove). Small eosinophilic intranuclear inclusions within biliary epithelial cells (arrows). ×750 (60 × objective); (c) Guiana dolphin (Sotalia guianensis), glandular stomach, CeMV infection, São Mateus, Brazil, 2010. Granular immunohistochemical staining of morbilliviral antigen in neuronal cytoplasm in the myenteric plexus. Avidin-biotin complex immunoperoxidase technique, Mayer’s haematoxylin counterstain. Bar = 50 µm. (© Katia Groch); (d) Striped dolphin (Stenella coeruleoalba), brain, DMV infection, Latium, Italy, 1993 (© G. Di Guardo). Strong immunohistochemical labeling of morbilliviral antigen in cortical neurons, intranuclear viral inclusion bodies and in the surrounding neuropil. Avidin-biotin peroxidase technique with Mayer’s haematoxylin counterstain ×500 (40 × objective).

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