Genetic heterogeneity of dolphin morbilliviruses detected in the Spanish Mediterranean in inter-epizootic period.

Background: In the last 20 years, Cetacean Morbillivirus (CeMV) has been responsible for many die-offs in marine mammals worldwide, as clearly exemplified by the three dolphin morbillivirus (DMV) epizootics of 1990-1992, 2006-2008 and 2011 that affected Mediterranean striped dolphins (Stenella coeruleoalba). Systemic infection caused by DMV in the Mediterranean has been reported only during these outbreaks.

Results: We report the infection of five striped dolphins (Stenella coeruleoalba) stranded on the Spanish Mediterranean coast of Valencia after the last DMV outbreak that ended in 2011.

Diagnosis of Cetacean morbillivirus: A sensitive one step real time RT fast-PCR method based on SYBR(®) Green.

Cetacean morbillivirus (CeMV) (family Paramyxoviridae, genus Morbillivirus) is considered the most pathogenic virus of cetaceans. It was first implicated in the bottlenose dolphin (Tursiops truncatus) mass stranding episode along the Northwestern Atlantic coast in the late 1980s, and in several more recent worldwide epizootics in different Odontoceti species. This study describes a new one step real-time reverse transcription fast polymerase chain reaction (real-time RT-fast PCR) method based on SYBR(®) Green to detect a fragment of the CeMV fusion protein gene.

Unusual striped dolphin mass mortality episode related to cetacean morbillivirus in the Spanish Mediterranean sea.

Background: In the last 20 years, Cetacean Morbillivirus (CeMV) has been responsible for many die-offs in marine mammals worldwide, as clearly exemplified by the two dolphin morbillivirus (DMV) epizootics of 1990-1992 and 2006-2008, which affected Mediterranean striped dolphins (Stenella coeruleoalba). Between March and April 2011, the number of strandings on the Valencian Community coast (E Spain) increased.

Case Presentation: Necropsy and sample collection were performed in all stranded animals, with good state of conservation.

Simultaneous diagnosis of Cetacean morbillivirus infection in dolphins stranded in the Spanish Mediterranean sea in 2011 using a novel Universal Probe Library (UPL) RT-PCR assay.

A highly sensitive and specific real-time (rt) RT-PCR assay has been developed for rapid, simultaneous detection of three strains of cetacean morbillivirus (CeMV). In this assay, two PCR primers and a hydrolysis probe from a commercially available Universal Probe Library (UPL) are used to amplify a highly conserved region within the fusion protein gene. RT-PCR is carried out on the same sample using two primer sets in parallel: one set detects the more virulent strains, dolphin morbillivirus (DMV) and porpoise morbillivirus (PMV), and the other set detects the least virulent and least common strain, pilot whale morbillivirus (PWMV).

Herpes virus infection associated with interstitial nephritis in a beaked whale (Mesoplodon densirostris).

Background: The capacity for herpesvirus to cause disease in cetaceans is unclear and may be varied depending on the different conditions of individuals and between different species. Kidney pathology and intralesional virus-associated infection have been rarely reported in cetaceans.

Result: On April 2004, an old adult male Blainville's beaked whale (Mesoplodon densirostris) 420 cm long with a poor body condition was stranded on Tenerife Island.

Genetic comparison among dolphin morbillivirus in the 1990-1992 and 2006-2008 Mediterranean outbreaks.

In 1990, dolphin morbillivirus (DMV) killed thousands of striped dolphins in the Mediterranean. Subsequently, the prevalence of the infection declined in this species. In 2006-2008, the virus killed not only numerous striped dolphins but also long-finned pilot whales.

Molecular diagnosis of lobomycosis-like disease in a bottlenose dolphin in captivity.

We report the diagnosis and molecular characterization of lobomycosis-like lesions in a captive bottlenose dolphin. The clinical picture and the absence of growth in conventional media resembled the features associated with Lacazia loboi. However sequencing of ribosomal DNA and further phylogenetic analyses showed a novel sequence more related to Paracoccidioides brasilensis than to L.

Presence of herpesvirus in striped dolphins stranded during the cetacean morbillivirus epizootic along the Mediterranean Spanish coast in 2007.

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.

Herpesvirus infection with severe lymphoid necrosis affecting a beaked whale stranded in the Canary Islands.

This report describes the pathologic findings in a single, adult female Cuvier's beaked whale Ziphius cavirostris stranded in the Canary Islands. The study indicated that this whale died with a severe, systemic, herpesviral infection and clearly exhibited lesions different from those of the fat and gas embolic syndrome described in beaked whale mass strandings associated with sonar exposure. This is the first report of a cetacean alphaherpesvirus infection of the lymphoid system in a beaked whale.