Abstract
A screening for herpesvirus (HV) was carried out using a tissue bank obtained from the cetacean morbillivirus (CeMV) mortality episode that occurred along the Mediterranean Spanish coast in 2007. A total of 14 cetaceans, including six long-finned pilot whales and eight striped dolphins, were studied using histopathology and molecular analysis to detect HV and CeMV. In five of the eight dolphins (62.5%) infected with CeMV, eight novel HV sequences were also detected. No HV lesions were found in any of the coinfected dolphins, which may indicate that HV did not contribute to the mortality in the CeMV outbreak. This is the first report of HV infection in any cetacean from the Mediterranean Sea.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
References
Aguilar A, Borrell A (1994) Abnormally high polychlorinated biphenyl levels in striped dolphins (Stenella coeruleoalba) affected by the 1990–1992 Mediterranean epizootic. Sci Total Environ 154:237–247
Blanchard TW, Santiago NT, Lipscomb TP, Garber RL, McFee WE, Knowles S (2001) Two novel alphaherpesviruses associated with fatal disseminated infections in Atlantic bottlenose dolphins. J Wildl Dis 37:297–305
Borrell A, Aguilar A, Corsolini S, Focardi S (1996) Evaluation of toxicity and sex-related variation of PCB levels in Mediterranean striped dolphins affected by an epizootic. Chemosphere 32:2359–2369
Borrell A, Aguilar A (2007) Organochlorine concentrations declined during 1987–2002 in western Mediterranean bottlenose dolphins, a coastal top predator. Chemosphere 66:347–352
Di Guardo G, Marruchella G, Agrimi U, Kennedy S (2005) Morbillivirus infections in aquatic mammals: a brief overview. J Vet Med A Physiol Pathol Clin Med 52:88–93
Domingo M, Ferrer L, Pumarola M, Marco A, Plana J, Kennedy S, McAliskey M, Rima BK (1990) Morbillivirus in dolphins. Nature 348:21
Domingo M, Visa J, Pumarola M, Marco AJ, Ferrer L, Rabanal R, Kennedy S (1992) Pathologic and immunocytochemical studies of morbillivirus infection in striped dolphins (Stenella coeruleoalba). Vet Pathol 29:1–10
Dungworth DL (1993) The respiratory system. In: Jubb JVK, Kennedy PC, Palmer N (eds) Pathology of domestic animals, Academic Press, San Diego, pp 539–699
Fenner F, Gibbs E, Murphy F, Rott R, Studdert MJ, White D (1993) Herpesviridae. Veterinary virology. Academic Press Inc, London, pp 301–325
Fernandez A, Esperon F, Herraez P, de Los Monteros AE, Clavel C, Bernabe A, Sanchez-Vizcaino JM, Verborgh P, De Stephanis R, Toledano F, Bayon A (2008) Morbillivirus and pilot whale deaths, Mediterranean Sea. Emerg Infect Dis 14:792–794
Fournier M, Degas V, Colborn T, Omara FO, Denizeau F, Potworowski EF, Brousseau P (2000) Immunosuppression in mice fed on diets containing beluga whale blubber from the St Lawrence estuary and the Arctic populations. Toxicol Lett 112–113:311–317
Hargis AM, Ginn PE, Mansell JEKL, Garber RL (1999) Ulcerative facial and nasal dermatitis and stomatitis in cats associated with feline herpesvirus 1. Vet Dermatol 10:267–274
Heaney J, Barrett T, Cosby SL (2002) Inhibition of in vitro leukocyte proliferation by morbilliviruses. J Virol 76:3579–3584
Kannan K, Tanabe S, Borrell A, Aguilar A, Focardi S, Tatsukawa R (1993) Isomer-specific analysis and toxic evaluation of polychlorinated biphenyls in striped dolphins affected by an epizootic in the western Mediterranean sea. Arch Environ Contam Toxicol 25:227–233
McGeoch DJ, Rixon FJ, Davison AJ (2006) Topics in herpesvirus genomics and evolution. Virus Res 117:90–104
Raga JA, Banyard A, Domingo M, Corteyn M, Van Bressem MF, Fernandez M, Aznar FJ, Barrett T (2008) Dolphin morbillivirus epizootic resurgence, Mediterranean Sea. Emerg Infect Dis 14:471–473
Roizmann B, Desrosiers RC, Fleckenstein B, Lopez C, Minson AC, Studdert MJ (1992) The family Herpesviridae: an update. The Herpesvirus Study Group of the International Committee on Taxonomy of Viruses. Arch Virol 123:425–449
Saliki JT, Cooper EJ, Rotstein DS, Caseltine SL, Pabst DA, McLellan WA, Govett P, Harms C, Smolarek KA, Romero CH (2006) A novel gammaherpesvirus associated with genital lesions in a Blainville’s beaked whale (Mesoplodon densirostris). J Wildl Dis 42:142–148
Smolarek Benson KA, Manire CA, Ewing RY, Saliki JT, Townsend FI, Ehlers B, Romero CH (2006) Identification of novel alpha- and gammaherpesviruses from cutaneous and mucosal lesions of dolphins and whales. J Virol Methods 136:261–266
van Elk CE, van de Bildt MW, de Jong AA, Osterhaus AD, Kuiken T (2009) Herpesvirus in bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops truncatus): cultivation, epidemiology, and associated pathology. J Wildl Dis 45:895–906
VanDevanter DR, Warrener P, Bennett L, Schultz ER, Coulter S, Garber RL, Rose TM (1996) Detection and analysis of diverse herpesviral species by consensus primer PCR. J Clin Microbiol 34:1666–1671
Acknowledgments
We are grateful to Elena Neves and Verónica Nogal for their excellent technical assistance. This work is dedicated to the memory of Professor Tom Barrett (Institute for Animal Health: Pirbright Laboratory, UK), who kindly provided us with the control DMV MUC strain. This work was partially funded by project CGL2009-08125 of the Spanish National Research Plan and by the Agreement INIA-MARM CC08-020.
Conflict of interest statement
The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Bellière, E.N., Esperón, F., Arbelo, M. et al. Presence of herpesvirus in striped dolphins stranded during the cetacean morbillivirus epizootic along the Mediterranean Spanish coast in 2007. Arch Virol 155, 1307–1311 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00705-010-0697-x
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00705-010-0697-x