Dolphin Morbillivirus Associated with a Mass Stranding of Sperm Whales, Italy

In September 2014, seven sperm whales were stranded along Italy’s Adriatic coastline. Postmortem investigations on 3 female adult whales and 1 male fetus carried by the largest female revealed molecular and immunohistochemical evidence of dolphin morbillivirus infection. A possible role of the virus...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Emerging Infectious Diseases
Main Authors: Sandro Mazzariol, Cinzia Centelleghe, Andrea Di Provvido, Ludovica Di Renzo, Giusy Cardeti, Antonella Cersini, Gianluca Fichi, Antonio Petrella, Cristina Esmeralda Di Francesco, Walter Mignone, Cristina Casalone, Giovanni Di Guardo
Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
Language:English
Published: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention 2017
Subjects:
morbillivirus
Physeter macrocephalus
mass stranding
dolphins
whales
Italy
Medicine
R
Infectious and parasitic diseases
RC109-216
Online Access:https://doi.org/10.3201/eid2301.160239
https://doaj.org/article/7162df329e774125a7cdb5d88c4bdfba
Description
Summary:In September 2014, seven sperm whales were stranded along Italy’s Adriatic coastline. Postmortem investigations on 3 female adult whales and 1 male fetus carried by the largest female revealed molecular and immunohistochemical evidence of dolphin morbillivirus infection. A possible role of the virus in the stranding event was considered.

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