Adrenal Gland and Lung Lesions in Gulf of Mexico Common Bottlenose Dolphins (Tursiops truncatus) Found Dead following the Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill.

A northern Gulf of Mexico (GoM) cetacean unusual mortality event (UME) involving primarily bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops truncatus) in Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama began in February 2010 and continued into 2014. Overlapping in time and space with this UME was the Deepwater Horizon (DWH) oil spill, which was proposed as a contributing cause of adrenal disease, lung disease, and poor health in live dolphins examined during 2011 in Barataria Bay, Louisiana. To assess potential contributing factors and causes of deaths for stranded UME dolphins from June 2010 through December 2012, lung and adrenal gland tissues were histologically evaluated from 46 fresh dead non-perinatal carcasses that stranded in Louisiana (including 22 from Barataria Bay), Mississippi, and Alabama. UME dolphins were tested for evidence of biotoxicosis, morbillivirus infection, and brucellosis. Results were compared to up to 106 fresh dead stranded dolphins from outside the UME area or prior to the DWH spill. UME dolphins were more likely to have primary bacterial pneumonia (22% compared to 2% in non-UME dolphins, P = .003) and thin adrenal cortices (33% compared to 7% in non-UME dolphins, P = .003). In 70% of UME dolphins with primary bacterial pneumonia, the condition either caused or contributed significantly to death. Brucellosis and morbillivirus infections were detected in 7% and 11% of UME dolphins, respectively, and biotoxin levels were low or below the detection limit, indicating that these were not primary causes of the current UME. The rare, life-threatening, and chronic adrenal gland and lung diseases identified in stranded UME dolphins are consistent with exposure to petroleum compounds as seen in other mammals. Exposure of dolphins to elevated petroleum compounds present in coastal GoM waters during and after the DWH oil spill is proposed as a cause of adrenal and lung disease and as a contributor to increased dolphin deaths.

Cetacean strandings in Italy: an unusual mortality event along the Tyrrhenian Sea coast in 2013.

An unusual mortality event involving cetaceans, mainly striped dolphins Stenella coeruleoalba (Meyen, 1833), occurred along the Tyrrhenian Sea coast of Italy during the first 3 mo of 2013. Based on post-mortem analyses carried out according to body condition on 66 dolphins (54% of stranded animals), several hypotheses to explain the causes of this mortality event were proposed. Although no definitive conclusions can be drawn, dolphin morbillivirus was deemed the most likely cause, although other infectious agents (including Photobacterium damselae damselae and herpesvirus) or environmental factors may also have contributed to this recent mortality event.

Amino acid sequence variations of signaling lymphocyte activation molecule and mortality caused by morbillivirus infection in cetaceans.

Morbillivirus infection is a severe threat to marine mammals. Mass die-offs caused by this infection have repeatedly occurred in bottlenose dolphins (Turiops truncatus) and striped dolphins (Stenella coeruleoalba), both of which belong to the family Delphinidae, but not in other cetaceans. However, it is unknown whether sensitivity to the virus varies among cetacean species. The signaling lymphocyte activation molecule (SLAM) is a receptor on host cells that allows morbillivirus invasion and propagation. Its immunoguloblin variable domain-like (V) region provides an interface for the virus hemagglutinin (H) protein. In this study, variations in the amino acid residues of the V region of 26 cetacean species, covering almost all cetacean genera, were examined. Three-dimensional (3D) models of them were generated in a homology model using the crystal structure of the marmoset SLAM and measles virus H protein complex as a template. The 3D models showed 32 amino acid residues on the interface that possibly bind the morbillivirus. Among the cetacean species studied, variations were found at six of the residues. Bottlenose and striped dolphins have substitutions at five positions (E68G, I74V, R90H, V126I, and Q130H) compared with those of baleen whales. Three residues (at positions 68, 90 and 130) were found to alternate electric charges, possibly causing changes in affinity for the virus. This study shows a new approach based on receptor structure for assessing potential vulnerability to viral infection. This method may be useful for assessing the risk of morbillivirus infection in wildlife.

Fatal cetacean morbillivirus infection in an Australian offshore bottlenose dolphin (Tursiops truncatus).

A juvenile offshore bottlenose dolphin (Tursiops truncatus) was found stranded with neurological signs and unable to swim or float unassisted. It subsequently died, succumbing to a combination of severe pneumonia and encephalitis. Morbillivirus serum neutralisation test serology was positive (titre 1:16) for cetacean morbillivirus and negative for both phocine distemper virus and canine distemper virus. There was concurrent thymic and lymph node lymphoid depletion and necrosis, together with intranuclear and intracytoplasmic acidophilic viral inclusion bodies and multinucleate syncytia within multiple organs. Paramyxovirus capsids were identified in lung sections via electron microscopy and morbillivirus antigen was demonstrated within sections of lung, thymus and brain by immunohistochemistry. Reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction for morbillivirus nucleoprotein (N) and phosphoprotein (P) genes were positive and phylogenetic gene product sequence analysis revealed 98% and 94% sequence identity to dolphin morbillivirus, respectively. To the authors' knowledge, this is the first report of a cetacean mortality due to morbillivirus infection occurring in the southern hemisphere. Morbillivirus infection should be included in the differential diagnosis of stranded live or dead cetaceans in Australian waters, particularly if animals display neurological signs.

PCB and DDT levels do not appear to have enhanced the mortality of striped dolphins (Stenella coeruleoalba) in the 2007 Mediterranean epizootic.

In 2007, 17 years after the first reported Mediterranean epizootic of striped dolphins (Stenella coeruleoalba), a new strain of the morbillivirus caused the deaths of dozens of striped dolphins that appeared dead on Western Mediterranean beaches. DDT and PCB levels were determined in these dolphins, and in individuals from sporadic strandings in the surrounding years. Comparison between the two epidemic events showed that organochlorine (OC) levels in the dolphins from 1990 epizootic were more than 10-fold higher for tPCB and 6-fold higher for tDDT than levels in dolphins from the 2007 outbreak. In contrast to what occurred in 1990, OCs from individuals affected by the second outburst fit well with curves of OC trends in the Mediterranean. Because the virulence of the 2007 epizootic was much lower, and the deceased dolphins affected by it did not present OC concentrations that were more elevated than in presumably healthy individuals, this second outburst is not believed to have been enhanced by OC pollutants.

Morbillivirus and pilot whale deaths, Mediterranean Sea.

An outbreak of a lethal morbillivirus infection of long-finned pilot whales occurred in the Mediterranean Sea from the end of October 2006 through April 2007. Sequence analysis of a 426-bp conserved fragment of the morbillivirus phosphoprotein gene indicates that the virus is more closely related to dolphin morbillivirus than to pilot whale morbillivirus.

Changes in epizoic crustacean infestations during cetacean die-offs: the mass mortality of Mediterranean striped dolphins Stenella coeruleoalba revisited.

In the summer and autumn of 1990, a cetacean morbillivirus caused a massive epizootic mortality of striped dolphins Stenella coeruleoalba in the western Mediterranean. Previous circumstantial evidence suggested that the disease could also have increased host susceptibility to infestations with epizoic crustaceans. In this study we provide strong evidence supporting this hypothesis. We examined striped dolphins stranded along the Mediterranean central coast of Spain from 1981 to 2004 (n = 136), and recorded data on prevalence, intensity of infestation, size and reproductive status of 2 sessile crustacean species specific to cetaceans, the phoront cirriped Xenobalanus globicipitis and the mesoparasitic copepod Pennella balaenopterae. Compared with the pre-epizootic (n = 12) and post-epizootic (n = 62) dolphin samples, the following changes were noted in the dolphins stranded during the epizootic (n = 62): (1) the prevalence of both X. globicipitis and P. balaenopterae increased; (2) the intensity of X. globicipitis and P. balaenopterae infestations did not increase; indeed, it was even slightly lower than in the other periods, as was their degree of aggregation; (3) individuals of both species were smaller, and a higher proportion were non-gravid; (4) the 2 species tended to co-occur in the same dolphins, but their numbers did not co-vary. These patterns strongly suggest that, during the epizootic, there was a short-term increase in the probability of infestation of these 2 species because of the sudden rise in the population of susceptible hosts; the growth of the new recruits was limited by the early death of dolphins. The high susceptibility was likely related to the immunosuppressive effects of viral infection and the abnormally heavy loads of polychlorinated biphenyls found in sick dolphins; the level of inbreeding was also higher in dolphins from the 'epizootic' sample. Epizoic crustaceans could be suitable indicators of health in cetacean populations.

Contaminant-induced immunosuppression and mass mortalities among harbor seals.

Virus-associated mass mortalities among seals inhabiting northwestern Europe have generated an interest in immunotoxicology in this species. A morbillivirus has been isolated from victims, but a contribution of immunotoxic contaminants to the severity of the outbreaks could not be ruled out. Fish-eating seals occupy high trophic levels in the aquatic food chain, and accumulate high levels of contaminants including polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins (PCDDs), and polychlorinated dibenzofurans (PCDFs). Such chemicals have been found to be immunotoxic at low doses in studies of laboratory animals. We carried out an immunotoxicological study, in which captive harbor seals (Phoca vitulina) were fed herring from either relatively uncontaminated sites of the Atlantic Ocean, or from the highly contaminated Baltic Sea. In this report we summarize the contaminant-related immunosuppression observed in the captive group of seals fed herring from the Baltic Sea. In addition, we describe two parallel studies, in which laboratory rats are exposed as adults or perinatally to the contaminants in the Baltic Sea herring, exhibiting immunotoxicity. On the basis of these studies we conclude that complex mixtures of environmental contaminants including PCBs, PCDFs, and PCDDs may represent a real immunotoxic risk to free-ranging seals.

Transmissibility from horses to humans of a novel paramyxovirus, equine morbillivirus (EMV).

OBJECTIVES: Determination of potential infectivity of a new paramyxovirus equine morbillivirus (EMV) from horses to humans and humans to humans as a result of two outbreaks in Queensland which involved 23 horses and three humans. METHODS: Seroepidemiological testing using neutralizing and immunofluorescing antibodies on people with variable levels of exposure to infected horses and humans. RESULTS: All serological testing on a total of 298 individual contacts was negative. CONCLUSIONS: While the three human cases of EMV were probably infected as a result of very close contact with horses, these data suggest that infectivity from horses or humans is very low.

Post mortem investigations on cetaceans found stranded on the coasts of Italy between 1990 and 1993.

Detailed pathological and virological examinations were carried out on 25 cetaceans found stranded between 1990 and 1993 on the coasts of six Italian regions (Latium, Tuscany, Apulia, Abruzzo, Veneto and Sicily). There were 16 striped dolphins (Stenella coeruleoalba), three bottlenosed dolphins (Tursiops truncatus), three Risso's dolphins (Grampus griseus), one rough-toothed dolphin (Steno bredanensis), one fin whale pup (Balaenoptera physalus), and one minke whale (Balaenoptera acutorostrata). Apart from parasitic diseases (44 per cent), the most frequently detected lesions were pneumonia (68 per cent), enteritis (44 per cent), non-purulent hepatitis (40 per cent), interstitial nephritis (32 per cent) and encephalitis (32 per cent). Morbilivirus infection was diagnosed by immunocytochemistry in four striped dolphins, two stranded on the coasts of Latium in 1991 and two on the coasts of Tuscany in 1993. Despite the presence of lesions consistent with morbilliviral pneumonia in two other striped dolphins stranded on the coast of Apulia in 1991, no morbillivirus antigen was demonstrated in the tissues of these animals. Anticanine distemper virus antibodies were detected in the serum of the adult minke whale found stranded on the coast of Tuscany in 1993. However, no viruses were isolated from the tissues of any of the 25 cetaceans.

A morbillivirus that caused fatal disease in horses and humans.

A morbillivirus has been isolated and added to an increasing list of emerging viral diseases. This virus caused an outbreak of fatal respiratory disease in horses and humans. Genetic analyses show it to be only distantly related to the classic morbilliviruses rinderpest, measles, and canine distemper. When seen by electron microscopy, viruses had 10- and 18-nanometer surface projections that gave them a "double-fringed" appearance. The virus induced syncytia that developed in the endothelium of blood vessels, particularly the lungs.