RESUMEN
Two morbilliviruses were isolated from carcases of Mediterranean monk seals (Monachus monachus) which had died in coastal areas of Greece and Mauritania. They were characterised as being closely related to the previously identified dolphin and porpoise morbilliviruses on the basis of their serological cross-reactivities in immunofluorescence assays, and sequence homologies in their N and P genes. The results suggest that morbilliviruses of aquatic mammals may cross barriers between species of different orders.
Asunto(s)
Cetáceos/virología , Infecciones por Morbillivirus/veterinaria , Morbillivirus/clasificación , Phocidae , Animales , Anticuerpos Antivirales/sangre , Anticuerpos Antivirales/inmunología , Secuencia de Bases , Encéfalo/virología , Cadáver , Chlorocebus aethiops , Reacciones Cruzadas , Cartilla de ADN , ADN Viral/química , Hurones , Técnica del Anticuerpo Fluorescente/veterinaria , Grecia , Pulmón/virología , Mauritania , Datos de Secuencia Molecular , Morbillivirus/genética , Morbillivirus/inmunología , Morbillivirus/aislamiento & purificación , Infecciones por Morbillivirus/diagnóstico , Infecciones por Morbillivirus/transmisión , Pruebas de Neutralización/veterinaria , Filogenia , Reacción en Cadena de la Polimerasa/veterinaria , Alineación de Secuencia/veterinaria , Homología de Secuencia de Ácido Nucleico , Especificidad de la Especie , Células VeroRESUMEN
Two morbilliviruses were isolated from Mediterranean monk seals (Monachus monachus), one from a stranded animal in Greece and the other one from carcasses washed ashore during a mass die-off in Mauritania. From both viruses N and P gene fragments were sequenced and compared to those of other known morbilliviruses. The monk seal morbilliviruses most closely resembled previously identified cetacean morbilliviruses, indicating that interspecies transmission from cetaceans to pinnipeds has occurred.
Asunto(s)
Morbillivirus/clasificación , Phocidae/virología , Animales , ADN Viral/química , Grecia , Morbillivirus/aislamiento & purificación , FilogeniaRESUMEN
During the past few months, more than half of the total population of about 300 highly endangered Mediterranean monk seals (Monachus monachus) on the western Saharan coast of Africa, died in a mysterious disease outbreak. Epizootiological and postmortem findings were reminiscent of similar outbreaks amongst pinniped and cetacean species in recent years, which were caused by an infection with newly discovered morbilliviruses (for review see osterhaus et al.). Virological, as well as toxicological, analysis performed on tissue samples collected from relatively fresh carcasses during the outbreak indicate that infection with a virus closely related to dolphin morbillivirus (DMV), possibly originating from affected dolphins in the same area, was the primary cause of the outbreak. Therefore it is concluded that vaccination with a safe and effective non-replicating vaccine should be considered as a management tool in the conservation of Mediterranean monk seals.