Mass die-Off of Caspian seals caused by canine distemper virus

Thousands of Caspian seals (Phoca caspica) died in the Caspian Sea from April to August 2000. Lesions characteristic of morbillivirus infection were found in tissue specimens from dead seals. Canine distemper virus infection was identified by serologic examination, reverse transcriptase- polymerase...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Emerging infectious diseases 2000-11, Vol.6 (6), p.637-639
Main Authors: Kennedy, S, Kuiken, T, Jepson, P D, Deaville, R, Forsyth, M, Barrett, T, van de Bildt, M W, Osterhaus, A D, Eybatov, T, Duck, C, Kydyrmanov, A, Mitrofanov, I, Wilson, S
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Animals
Antibodies, Viral - blood
AP gene
Canine distemper
Canine Distemper Virus
Caspian Sea
Caspian seals
Cause of Death
Communicable diseases in animals
Diseases
Distemper Virus, Canine - classification
Distemper Virus, Canine - isolation & purification
Environmental aspects
Kazakstan
morbillivirus infection
Phoca caspica
Phylogeny
Seals (Animals)
Seals, Earless - virology
Veterinary epidemiology
Citations: Items that this one cites
Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:Thousands of Caspian seals (Phoca caspica) died in the Caspian Sea from April to August 2000. Lesions characteristic of morbillivirus infection were found in tissue specimens from dead seals. Canine distemper virus infection was identified by serologic examination, reverse transcriptase- polymerase chain reaction, and sequencing of selected P gene fragments. These results implicate canine distemper virus infection as the primary cause of death.
ISSN:1080-6040
1080-6059
DOI:10.3201/eid0606.000613