Monk seal mortality: virus or toxin?

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 1. Epizootiological and postmortem findings were reminiscent of similar outbre...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Vaccine 1998-05, Vol.16 (9), p.979-981
Main Authors: Osterhaus, Albert, van de Bildt, Marco, Vedder, Lies, Martina, Byron, Niesters, Hubert, Vos, Joseph, van Egmond, Hans, Liem, Djien, Baumann, Robert, Androukaki, Eugenia, Kotomatas, Spyros, Komnenou, Anastasia, Abou Sidi, Ba, Jiddou, Azza Bent, Barham, Mohamed Ely Ould
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Africa, Western
Animal viral diseases
Animals
Biological and medical sciences
Disease Outbreaks - veterinary
Dolphin morbillivirus
Dolphins - virology
Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology
Infectious diseases
Marine
Marine Toxins - analysis
Medical sciences
Microbiology
Monachus monachus
Monk seal
monk seal morbillivirus
Morbillivirus - classification
Morbillivirus - genetics
Morbillivirus - isolation & purification
Morbillivirus Infections - epidemiology
Morbillivirus Infections - veterinary
Morbillivirus Infections - virology
Seals, Earless - metabolism
Seals, Earless - virology
toxin
Vaccination - veterinary
Vaccines, antisera, therapeutical immunoglobulins and monoclonal antibodies
Viral diseases
Virology
virus
Water Pollutants, Chemical - analysis
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Summary: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 1. 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. 2). 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.
ISSN:0264-410X
1873-2518
DOI:10.1016/S0264-410X(98)00006-1