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PredicateObject
rdf:type
lifeskim:mentions
pubmed:issue
1
pubmed:dateCreated
2000-9-28
pubmed:abstractText
The role of morbillivirus infection as a cause of disease or death in harbour porpoises (Phocoena phocoena) from the German North and Baltic Sea was investigated by serology, histology and immunohistochemistry. Blood and tissue samples of lung, brain and lymph nodes from 74 stranded or by-caught harbour porpoises from German waters were collected between 1991 and 1997. According to dentinal growth layers and body length, animals were grouped into four age classes (neonates, 0-1, 1-4, 4-16 years of age). Formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded sections were stained by hematoxylin and eosin (HE). Immunohistology was done in all lung tissues using the avidin-biotin-peroxidase technique and a polyclonal canine distemper virus (CDV) nucleoprotein-specific antibody, which cross-reacts with porpoise morbillivirus (PMV) antigen. A virus neutralization assay for detection of (Onderstepoort-strain) CDV- and PMV-specific antibodies was performed. Due to the cytotoxicity of some sera, only titres of 1:20 or greater were considered positive. PMV or CDV-specific neutralizing antibody titres were found in 88 and 50% of the animals, respectively. Titres were always highest against PMV indicating infection with a homologous porpoise virus strain. There were no significant differences in neutralizing antibody titres between animals of the different age groups. No histological lesions specific for morbillivirus infection were detected and by immunohistology all cases were negative for morbillivirus antigen. The absence of morbillivirus antigen and the lack of characteristic morbillivirus-specific lesions showed that morbillivirus infection was not a cause of death or illness in the investigated population. However, the high incidence of PMV-specific antibodies in all age groups indicated a continuous spread of infection with a morbillivirus among harbour porpoises from the German Baltic and North Sea.
pubmed:language
eng
pubmed:journal
pubmed:citationSubset
IM
pubmed:chemical
pubmed:status
MEDLINE
pubmed:month
Jul
pubmed:issn
0378-1135
pubmed:author
pubmed:issnType
Print
pubmed:day
3
pubmed:volume
75
pubmed:owner
NLM
pubmed:authorsComplete
Y
pubmed:pagination
17-25
pubmed:dateRevised
2006-11-15
pubmed:meshHeading
pubmed:year
2000
pubmed:articleTitle
Immunohistological and serological investigation of morbillivirus infection in harbour porpoises (Phocoena phocoena) from the German Baltic and North Sea.
pubmed:affiliation
Institut für Veterinär-Pathologie, Justus-Liebig-Universität Giessen, Frankfurter Str. 96, 35392, Giessen, Germany.
pubmed:publicationType
Journal Article, Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't