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de Amorim DB, de Camargo LJ, Ribeiro PR, Budaszewski RDF, Menegatt JCO, Paz MC, de Castro LT, Almeida PR, Olegário JC, Canal CW, Sonne L. Characterization of Cetacean Morbillivirus in Humpback Whales, Brazil. Emerg Infect Dis 2024; 30:1296-1298. [PMID: 38781986 PMCID: PMC11138977 DOI: 10.3201/eid3006.231769] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 05/25/2024] Open
Abstract
Cetacean morbillivirus is an etiologic agent associated with strandings of live and dead cetacean species occurring sporadically or as epizootics worldwide. We report 2 cases of cetacean morbillivirus in humpback whales (Megaptera novaeangliae) in Brazil and describe the anatomopathological, immunohistochemical, and molecular characterization findings in the specimens.
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O'Mahony ÉN, Sremba AL, Keen EM, Robinson N, Dundas A, Steel D, Wray J, Baker CS, Gaggiotti OE. Collecting baleen whale blow samples by drone: A minimally intrusive tool for conservation genetics. Mol Ecol Resour 2024:e13957. [PMID: 38576153 DOI: 10.1111/1755-0998.13957] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/09/2023] [Revised: 03/05/2024] [Accepted: 03/25/2024] [Indexed: 04/06/2024]
Abstract
In coastal British Columbia, Canada, marine megafauna such as humpback whales (Megaptera novaeangliae) and fin whales (Balaenoptera physalus velifera) have been subject to a history of exploitation and near extirpation. While their populations have been in recovery, significant threats are posed to these vulnerable species by proposed natural resource ventures in this region, in addition to the compounding effects of anthropogenic climate change. Genetic tools play a vital role in informing conservation efforts, but the associated collection of tissue biopsy samples can be challenging for the investigators and disruptive to the ongoing behaviour of the targeted whales. Here, we evaluate a minimally intrusive approach based on collecting exhaled breath condensate, or respiratory 'blow' samples, from baleen whales using an unoccupied aerial system (UAS), within Gitga'at First Nation territory for conservation genetics. Minimal behavioural responses to the sampling technique were observed, with no response detected 87% of the time (of 112 UAS deployments). DNA from whale blow (n = 88 samples) was extracted, and DNA profiles consisting of 10 nuclear microsatellite loci, sex identification and mitochondrial (mt) DNA haplotypes were constructed. An average of 7.5 microsatellite loci per individual were successfully genotyped. The success rates for mtDNA and sex assignment were 80% and 89% respectively. Thus, this minimally intrusive sampling method can be used to describe genetic diversity and generate genetic profiles for individual identification. The results of this research demonstrate the potential of UAS-collected whale blow for conservation genetics from a remote location.
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Affiliation(s)
- Éadin N O'Mahony
- Centre for Biological Diversity and Scottish Oceans Institute, School of Biology, University of St Andrews, St Andrews, Fife, UK
- North Coast Cetacean Society, Alert Bay, British Columbia, Canada
| | - Angela L Sremba
- Marine Mammal Institute, Hatfield Marine Science Centre, Oregon State University, Newport, Oregon, USA
- Cooperative Institute for Marine Ecosystem Resources, Oregon State University, Newport, Oregon, USA
| | - Eric M Keen
- North Coast Cetacean Society, Alert Bay, British Columbia, Canada
- Sewanee: The University of the South, Sewanee, Tennessee, USA
| | - Nicole Robinson
- Gitga'at Oceans and Lands Department, Hartley Bay, British Columbia, Canada
| | - Archie Dundas
- Gitga'at Oceans and Lands Department, Hartley Bay, British Columbia, Canada
| | - Debbie Steel
- Marine Mammal Institute, Hatfield Marine Science Centre, Oregon State University, Newport, Oregon, USA
| | - Janie Wray
- North Coast Cetacean Society, Alert Bay, British Columbia, Canada
| | - C Scott Baker
- Marine Mammal Institute, Hatfield Marine Science Centre, Oregon State University, Newport, Oregon, USA
| | - Oscar E Gaggiotti
- Centre for Biological Diversity and Scottish Oceans Institute, School of Biology, University of St Andrews, St Andrews, Fife, UK
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Zinzula L, Scholz J, Nagy I, Di Guardo G, Orsini M. Biophysical characterization of the cetacean morbillivirus haemagglutinin glycoprotein. Virus Res 2023; 336:199231. [PMID: 37769814 PMCID: PMC10550842 DOI: 10.1016/j.virusres.2023.199231] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/21/2023] [Revised: 09/24/2023] [Accepted: 09/25/2023] [Indexed: 10/01/2023]
Abstract
Cetacean morbillivirus (CeMV) is an enveloped, non-segmented, negative-stranded RNA virus that infects marine mammals, spreading across species and causing lethal disease outbreaks worldwide. Among the eight proteins encoded by the CeMV genome, the haemagglutinin (H) glycoprotein is responsible for the virus attachment to host cell receptors. CeMV H represents an attractive target for antiviral and diagnostic research, yet the elucidation of the molecular mechanisms underlying its role in infection and inter-species transmission was hampered thus far due to the unavailability of recombinant versions of the protein. Here we present the cloning, expression and purification of a recombinant CeMV H ectodomain (rH-ecto), providing an initial characterization of its biophysical and structural properties. Sodium dodecyl sulphate - polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (PAGE) combined to Western blot analysis and periodic acid Schiff assay showed that CeMV rH-ecto is purifiable at homogeneity from insect cells as a secreted, soluble and glycosylated protein. Miniaturized differential scanning fluorimetry, Blue Native PAGE and size exclusion chromatography coupled to multiangle light scattering revealed that CeMV rH-ecto is globularly folded, thermally stable and exists in solution in the oligomeric states of dimer and multiple of dimers. Furthermore, negative stain electron microscopy single particle analysis allowed us to delineate a low-resolution molecular architecture of the CeMV rH-ecto dimer, which recapitulates native assemblies from other morbilliviral H proteins, such as those from measles virus and canine distemper virus. This set of experiments by orthogonal techniques validates the CeMV rH-ecto as an experimental model for future biochemical studies on its structure and functions.
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Affiliation(s)
- Luca Zinzula
- Department of Molecular Structural Biology, Max Planck Institute of Biochemistry, Martinsried, Germany; Centro di Educazione Ambientale e alla Sostenibilità (CEAS) Laguna di Nora, Pula, Italy.
| | - Judith Scholz
- Core Facility, Max Planck Institute of Biochemistry, Martinsried, Germany
| | - István Nagy
- Department of Molecular Structural Biology, Max Planck Institute of Biochemistry, Martinsried, Germany; Center of Research and Development, Eszterházy Károly Catholic University, Eger, Hungary
| | - Giovanni Di Guardo
- Retired Professor of General Pathology and Veterinary Pathophysiology, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Teramo, Teramo, Italy
| | - Massimiliano Orsini
- Laboratory of Microbial Ecology and Genomics, Istituto Zooprofilattico Sperimentale delle Venezie, Legnaro, Italy
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Vargas-Castro I, Peletto S, Mattioda V, Goria M, Serracca L, Varello K, Sánchez-Vizcaíno JM, Puleio R, Nocera FD, Lucifora G, Acutis P, Casalone C, Grattarola C, Giorda F. Epidemiological and genetic analysis of Cetacean Morbillivirus circulating on the Italian coast between 2018 and 2021. Front Vet Sci 2023; 10:1216838. [PMID: 37583469 PMCID: PMC10424449 DOI: 10.3389/fvets.2023.1216838] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/04/2023] [Accepted: 07/04/2023] [Indexed: 08/17/2023] Open
Abstract
Cetacean morbillivirus (CeMV) has caused several outbreaks, unusual mortality events, and interepidemic single-lethal disease episodes in the Mediterranean Sea. Since 2012, a new strain with a northeast (NE) Atlantic origin has been circulating among Mediterranean cetaceans, causing numerous deaths. The objective of this study was to determine the prevalence of CeMV in cetaceans stranded in Italy between 2018 and 2021 and characterize the strain of CeMV circulating. Out of the 354 stranded cetaceans along the Italian coastlines, 113 were CeMV-positive. This prevalence (31.9%) is one of the highest reported without an associated outbreak. All marine sectors along the Italian coastlines, except for the northern Adriatic coast, reported a positive molecular diagnosis of CeMV. In one-third of the CeMV-positive cetaceans submitted to a histological evaluation, a chronic form of the infection (detectable viral antigen, the absence of associated lesions, and concomitant coinfections) was suspected. Tissues from 24 animals were used to characterize the strain, obtaining 57 sequences from phosphoprotein, nucleocapsid, and fusion protein genes, which were submitted to GenBank. Our sequences showed the highest identity with NE-Atlantic strain sequences, and in the phylogenetic study, they clustered together with them. Regarding age and species, most of these individuals were adults (17/24, 70.83%) and striped dolphins (19/24, 79.16%). This study improves our understanding on the NE-Atlantic CeMV strain in the Italian waters, supporting the hypothesis of an endemic circulation of the virus in this area; however, additional studies are necessary to deeply comprehend the epidemiology of this strain in the Mediterranean Sea.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ignacio Vargas-Castro
- VISAVET Center and Animal Health Department, Veterinary School, Complutense University of Madrid, Madrid, Spain
| | - Simone Peletto
- Istituto Zooprofilattico Sperimentale del Piemonte, Liguria e Valle d'Aosta - WOAH Collaborating Centre for the Health of Marine Mammals, Turin, Italy
| | - Virginia Mattioda
- Istituto Zooprofilattico Sperimentale del Piemonte, Liguria e Valle d'Aosta - WOAH Collaborating Centre for the Health of Marine Mammals, Turin, Italy
| | - Maria Goria
- Istituto Zooprofilattico Sperimentale del Piemonte, Liguria e Valle d'Aosta - WOAH Collaborating Centre for the Health of Marine Mammals, Turin, Italy
| | - Laura Serracca
- Istituto Zooprofilattico Sperimentale del Piemonte, Liguria e Valle d'Aosta - WOAH Collaborating Centre for the Health of Marine Mammals, Turin, Italy
| | - Katia Varello
- Istituto Zooprofilattico Sperimentale del Piemonte, Liguria e Valle d'Aosta - WOAH Collaborating Centre for the Health of Marine Mammals, Turin, Italy
| | | | - Roberto Puleio
- Istituto Zooprofilattico Sperimentale della Sicilia, Palermo, Italy
| | - Fabio Di Nocera
- Istituto Zooprofilattico Sperimentale del Mezzogiorno, Naples, Italy
| | - Giuseppe Lucifora
- Istituto Zooprofilattico Sperimentale del Mezzogiorno, Naples, Italy
| | - Pierluigi Acutis
- Istituto Zooprofilattico Sperimentale del Piemonte, Liguria e Valle d'Aosta - WOAH Collaborating Centre for the Health of Marine Mammals, Turin, Italy
| | - Cristina Casalone
- Istituto Zooprofilattico Sperimentale del Piemonte, Liguria e Valle d'Aosta - WOAH Collaborating Centre for the Health of Marine Mammals, Turin, Italy
| | - Carla Grattarola
- Istituto Zooprofilattico Sperimentale del Piemonte, Liguria e Valle d'Aosta - WOAH Collaborating Centre for the Health of Marine Mammals, Turin, Italy
| | - Federica Giorda
- Istituto Zooprofilattico Sperimentale del Piemonte, Liguria e Valle d'Aosta - WOAH Collaborating Centre for the Health of Marine Mammals, Turin, Italy
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Richard JT, Schultz K, Goertz CEC, Hobbs RC, Romano TA, Sartini BL. Evaluating beluga ( Delphinapterus leucas) blow samples as a potential diagnostic for immune function gene expression within the respiratory system. CONSERVATION PHYSIOLOGY 2022; 10:coac045. [PMID: 35795014 PMCID: PMC9252111 DOI: 10.1093/conphys/coac045] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/19/2021] [Revised: 05/06/2022] [Accepted: 06/22/2022] [Indexed: 06/15/2023]
Abstract
Evaluating respiratory health is important in the management of cetaceans, which are vulnerable to respiratory diseases. Quantifying the expression of genes related to immune function within the respiratory tract could be a valuable tool for directly assessing respiratory health. Blow (exhale) samples allow DNA analysis, and we hypothesized that RNA could also be isolated from blow samples for gene expression studies of immune function. We evaluated the potential to extract RNA from beluga blow samples and tested whether transcripts associated with immune function could be detected with endpoint polymerase chain reaction. A total of 54 blow samples were collected from clinically healthy aquarium belugas (n = 3), and 15 were collected from wild belugas temporarily restrained for health assessment in Bristol Bay, Alaska (n = 9). Although RNA yield varied widely (range, 0-265.2 ng; mean = 85.8; SD = 71.3), measurable RNA was extracted from 97% of the samples. Extracted RNA was assessed in 1-6 PCR reactions targeting housekeeping genes (Rpl8, Gapdh or ActB) or genes associated with immune function (TNFα, IL-12p40 or Cox-2). Fifty of the aquarium samples (93%) amplified at least one transcript; overall PCR success for housekeeping genes (96/110, 87%) and genes associated with immune function (90/104, 87%) were similarly high. Both RNA yield and overall PCR success (27%) were lower for wild beluga samples, which is most likely due to the reduced forcefulness of the exhale when compared with trained or free-swimming belugas. Overall, the high detection rate with PCR suggests measuring gene expression in blow samples could provide diagnostic information about immune responses within the respiratory tract. While further study is required to determine if quantitative gene expression data from blow samples is associated with disease states, the non-invasive nature of this approach may prove valuable for belugas, which face increasing anthropogenic disturbances.
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Affiliation(s)
- Justin T Richard
- Corresponding author: Department of Fisheries, Animal and Veterinary Science, University of Rhode Island, Kingston, RI 02881, USA.
| | - Krystle Schultz
- Department of Fisheries, Animal and Veterinary Science, University of Rhode Island, 9 E Alumni Drive, Kingston, RI 02881, USA
| | | | - Roderick C Hobbs
- Retired from Marine Mammal Laboratory, Alaska Fisheries Science Center, 7600 Sand Point Way NE, F/AKC3, Seattle, WA 98115-6349, USA
| | - Tracy A Romano
- Mystic Aquarium, a Division of Sea Research Foundation, 55 Coogan Blvd, Mystic, CT 06355, USA
| | - Becky L Sartini
- Department of Fisheries, Animal and Veterinary Science, University of Rhode Island, 9 E Alumni Drive, Kingston, RI 02881, USA
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A Review of Non-Invasive Sampling in Wildlife Disease and Health Research: What’s New? Animals (Basel) 2022; 12:ani12131719. [PMID: 35804619 PMCID: PMC9265025 DOI: 10.3390/ani12131719] [Citation(s) in RCA: 17] [Impact Index Per Article: 8.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/30/2022] [Revised: 06/28/2022] [Accepted: 06/29/2022] [Indexed: 12/14/2022] Open
Abstract
Simple Summary The interest in wildlife research has increased in the last decades as more scientists work within a One Health framework that regards human, livestock and wildlife health as connected entities. To minimise the impact of research on wildlife, collecting samples with as little disturbance of the animals as possible is important. In our review, we assess the use of so-called non-invasive sampling and summarise which samples can be used successfully when carrying out research on wildlife diseases and health status. Our results show that interest in minimally invasive sampling has steadily increased since the 2010s. Topics able to employ these methods include disease research, but also stress and other hormone assessments, pollution studies, and dietary studies. At the moment, such methods are mainly used to collect samples from land mammals, however, they can also be used in a wide range of other animals. Ever more capable analytical methods will allow for an even wider use of such “animal-friendly” sampling methods. Abstract In the last decades, wildlife diseases and the health status of animal populations have gained increasing attention from the scientific community as part of a One Health framework. Furthermore, the need for non-invasive sampling methods with a minimal impact on wildlife has become paramount in complying with modern ethical standards and regulations, and to collect high-quality and unbiased data. We analysed the publication trends on non-invasive sampling in wildlife health and disease research and offer a comprehensive review on the different samples that can be collected non-invasively. We retrieved 272 articles spanning from 1998 to 2021, with a rapid increase in number from 2010. Thirty-nine percent of the papers were focussed on diseases, 58% on other health-related topics, and 3% on both. Stress and other physiological parameters were the most addressed research topics, followed by viruses, helminths, and bacterial infections. Terrestrial mammals accounted for 75% of all publications, and faeces were the most widely used sample. Our review of the sampling materials and collection methods highlights that, although the use of some types of samples for specific applications is now consolidated, others are perhaps still underutilised and new technologies may offer future opportunities for an even wider use of non-invasively collected samples.
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The Southern Ocean Exchange: porous boundaries between humpback whale breeding populations in southern polar waters. Sci Rep 2021; 11:23618. [PMID: 34880273 PMCID: PMC8654993 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-021-02612-5] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/23/2021] [Accepted: 11/17/2021] [Indexed: 11/10/2022] Open
Abstract
Humpback whales (Megaptera novaeangliae) are a cosmopolitan species and perform long annual migrations between low-latitude breeding areas and high-latitude feeding areas. Their breeding populations appear to be spatially and genetically segregated due to long-term, maternally inherited fidelity to natal breeding areas. In the Southern Hemisphere, some humpback whale breeding populations mix in Southern Ocean waters in summer, but very little movement between Pacific and Atlantic waters has been identified to date, suggesting these waters constituted an oceanic boundary between genetically distinct populations. Here, we present new evidence of summer co-occurrence in the West Antarctic Peninsula feeding area of two recovering humpback whale breeding populations from the Atlantic (Brazil) and Pacific (Central and South America). As humpback whale populations recover, observations like this point to the need to revise our perceptions of boundaries between stocks, particularly on high latitude feeding grounds. We suggest that this “Southern Ocean Exchange” may become more frequent as populations recover from commercial whaling and climate change modifies environmental dynamics and humpback whale prey availability.
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Zinzula L, Mazzariol S, Di Guardo G. Molecular signatures in cetacean morbillivirus and host species proteomes: Unveiling the evolutionary dynamics of an enigmatic pathogen? Microbiol Immunol 2021; 66:52-58. [PMID: 34779039 DOI: 10.1111/1348-0421.12949] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/27/2021] [Revised: 11/08/2021] [Accepted: 11/11/2021] [Indexed: 02/01/2023]
Abstract
Cetacean morbillivirus (CeMV) infects marine mammals often causing a fatal respiratory and neurological disease. Recently, CeMV has expanded its geographic and host species range, with cases being reported worldwide among dolphins, whales, seals, and other aquatic mammalian species, and therefore has emerged as the most threatening nonanthropogenic factor affecting marine mammal's health and conservation. Extensive research efforts have aimed to understand CeMV epidemiology and ecology, however, the molecular mechanisms underlying its transmission and pathogenesis are still poorly understood. In particular, the field suffers from a knowledge gap on the structural and functional properties of CeMV proteins and their host interactors. Nevertheless, the body of scientific literature produced in recent years has inaugurated new investigational trends, driving future directions in CeMV molecular research. In this mini-review, the most recent literature has been summarized in the context of such research trends, and categorized into four priority research topics, such as (1) the interaction between CeMV glycoprotein and its host cell receptors across several species; (2) the CeMV molecular determinants responsible for different disease phenotype; (3) the host molecular determinants responsible for differential susceptibility to CeMV infection; (4) the CeMV molecular determinants responsible for difference virulence among circulating CeMV strains. Arguably, these are the most urgent topics that need to be investigated and that most promisingly will help to shed light on the details of CeMV evolutionary dynamics in the immediate future.
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Affiliation(s)
- Luca Zinzula
- Department of Molecular Structural Biology, Max-Planck Institute of Biochemistry, Martinsried, Germany
| | - Sandro Mazzariol
- Department of Comparative Biomedicine and Food Science, University of Padua, Legnaro (Padova), Italy
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West KL, Silva-Krott I, Landrau-Giovannetti N, Rotstein D, Saliki J, Raverty S, Nielsen O, Popov VL, Davis N, Walker WA, Subramaniam K, Waltzek TB. Novel cetacean morbillivirus in a rare Fraser's dolphin (Lagenodelphis hosei) stranding from Maui, Hawai'i. Sci Rep 2021; 11:15986. [PMID: 34373473 PMCID: PMC8352961 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-021-94460-6] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/25/2020] [Accepted: 07/09/2021] [Indexed: 11/12/2022] Open
Abstract
Cetacean morbillivirus (CeMV) is a global threat to cetaceans. We report a novel morbillivirus from a Fraser’s dolphin (Lagenodelphis hosei) that stranded in Maui, Hawaii in 2018 that is dissimilar to the beaked whale morbillivirus previously identified from Hawaii and to other CeMV strains. Histopathological findings included intranuclear inclusions in bile duct epithelium, lymphoid depletion, rare syncytial cells and non-suppurative meningitis. Cerebellum and lung tissue homogenates were inoculated onto Vero.DogSLAMtag cells for virus isolation and cytopathic effects were observed, resulting in the formation of multinucleated giant cells (i.e., syncytia). Transmission electron microscopy of infected cell cultures also revealed syncytial cells with intracytoplasmic and intranuclear inclusions of viral nucleocapsids, consistent with the ultrastructure of a morbillivirus. Samples of the cerebellum, lung, liver, spleen and lymph nodes were positive for morbillivirus using a reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction. The resulting 559 bp L gene sequence had the highest nucleotide identity (77.3%) to porpoise morbillivirus from Northern Ireland and the Netherlands. The resulting 248 bp P gene had the highest nucleotide identity to porpoise morbillivirus in Northern Ireland and the Netherlands and to a stranded Guiana dolphin (Sotalia guianensis) in Brazil (66.9%). As Fraser’s dolphins are a pelagic species that infrequently strand, a novel strain of CeMV may be circulating in the central Pacific that could have additional population impacts through transmission to other small island-associated cetacean species.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kristi L West
- Hawai'i Institute of Marine Biology, University of Hawai'i at Manoa, Kaneohe, HI, USA. .,Human Nutrition Food and Animal Sciences, College of Tropical Agriculture and Human Resources, University of Hawai'i at Manoa, Honolulu, HI, USA.
| | - Ilse Silva-Krott
- Hawai'i Institute of Marine Biology, University of Hawai'i at Manoa, Kaneohe, HI, USA
| | - Nelmarie Landrau-Giovannetti
- Department of Infectious Diseases and Immunology, College of Veterinary Medicine, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL, USA
| | | | - Jeremiah Saliki
- Oklahoma Animal Disease Diagnostic Laboratory, College of Veterinary Medicine, Oklahoma State University, Stillwater, OK, USA
| | - Stephen Raverty
- Animal Health Center, British Columbia Ministry of Agriculture, Abbotsford, BC, Canada
| | - Ole Nielsen
- Department of Fisheries and Oceans Canada, Winnipeg, MB, Canada
| | - Vsevolod L Popov
- Department of Pathology, The University of Texas Medical Branch, Galveston, TX, USA
| | - Nicole Davis
- Pacific Islands Regional Office, National Marine Fisheries Service, Honolulu, HI, USA
| | - William A Walker
- Marine Mammal Laboratory, National Marine Fisheries Service, Seattle, WA, USA
| | - Kuttichantran Subramaniam
- Department of Infectious Diseases and Immunology, College of Veterinary Medicine, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL, USA
| | - Thomas B Waltzek
- Department of Infectious Diseases and Immunology, College of Veterinary Medicine, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL, USA
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