title: Cetacean morbillivirus: current knowledge and future directions.
abstract: We review the molecular and epidemiological characteristics of cetacean morbillivirus (CeMV) and the diagnosis and pathogenesis of associated disease, with six different strains detected in cetaceans worldwide. CeMV has caused epidemics with high mortality in odontocetes in Europe, the USA and Australia. It represents a distinct species within the Morbillivirus genus. Although most CeMV strains are phylogenetically closely related, recent data indicate that morbilliviruses recovered from Indo-Pacific bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops aduncus), from Western Australia, and a Guiana dolphin (Sotalia guianensis), from Brazil, are divergent. The signaling lymphocyte activation molecule (SLAM) cell receptor for CeMV has been characterized in cetaceans. It shares higher amino acid identity with the ruminant SLAM than with the receptors of carnivores or humans, reflecting the evolutionary history of these mammalian taxa. In Delphinidae, three amino acid substitutions may result in a higher affinity for the virus. Infection is diagnosed by histology, immunohistochemistry, virus isolation, RT-PCR, and serology. Classical CeMV-associated lesions include bronchointerstitial pneumonia, encephalitis, syncytia, and lymphoid depletion associated with immunosuppression. Cetaceans that survive the acute disease may develop fatal secondary infections and chronic encephalitis. Endemically infected, gregarious odontocetes probably serve as reservoirs and vectors. Transmission likely occurs through the inhalation of aerosolized virus but mother to fetus transmission was also reported.
authors.affiliation: Cetacean Conservation Medicine Group (CMED), Peruvian Centre for Cetacean Research (CEPEC), Pucusana, Lima 20, Peru. mfb.cmed@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Marie-Françoise
authors.initials: MF
authors.lastname: Van Bressem
authors.affiliation: Department of Ecosystem and Public Health, University of Calgary, Calgary, AL T2N 4Z6, Canada. ppjduign@ucalgary.ca.
authors.forename: Pádraig J
authors.initials: PJ
authors.lastname: Duignan
authors.affiliation: Wildlife Zoonoses and Vector Borne Disease Research Group, Animal and Plant Health Agency (APHA), Weybridge, Surrey KT15 3NB, UK. ashley.banyard@apha.gsi.gov.uk.
authors.forename: Ashley
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Banyard
authors.affiliation: The Marine Mammal Centre, Sausalito, CA 94965, USA. michelle.barbieri@noaa.gov.
authors.forename: Michelle
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Barbieri
authors.affiliation: Zoological Pathology Program, College of Veterinary Medicine, University of Illinois at Maywood, IL 60153 , USA. katie.colegrove@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Kathleen M
authors.initials: KM
authors.lastname: Colegrove
authors.affiliation: Department of Pathobiology and Veterinary Science, and Connecticut Sea Grant College Program, University of Connecticut, Storrs, CT 06269, USA. sylvain.deguise@uconn.edu.
authors.forename: Sylvain
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: De Guise
authors.affiliation: Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Teramo, 64100 Teramo, Italy. gdiguardo@unite.it.
authors.forename: Giovanni
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Di Guardo
authors.affiliation: Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ 08544, USA. dobson@princeton.edu.
authors.forename: Andrew
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Dobson
authors.affiliation: Centre de Recerca en Sanitat Animal (CReSA), Autonomous University of Barcelona, Bellaterra, Barcelona 08193, Spain. Mariano.Domingo@cresa.uab.cat.
authors.forename: Mariano
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Domingo
authors.affiliation: Cetacean Conservation Medicine Group (CMED), Peruvian Centre for Cetacean Research (CEPEC), Pucusana, Lima 20, Peru.
authors.forename: Deborah
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Fauquier
authors.affiliation: Cetacean Conservation Medicine Group (CMED), Peruvian Centre for Cetacean Research (CEPEC), Pucusana, Lima 20, Peru.
authors.forename: Antonio
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Fernandez
authors.affiliation: Cetacean Conservation Medicine Group (CMED), Peruvian Centre for Cetacean Research (CEPEC), Pucusana, Lima 20, Peru. ppjduign@ucalgary.ca.
authors.forename: Tracey
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Goldstein
authors.affiliation: Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ 08544, USA. grenfell@princeton.edu.
authors.forename: Bryan
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Grenfell
authors.affiliation: Cetacean Conservation Medicine Group (CMED), Peruvian Centre for Cetacean Research (CEPEC), Pucusana, Lima 20, Peru. katie.colegrove@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Kátia R
authors.initials: KR
authors.lastname: Groch
authors.affiliation: The Marine Mammal Centre, Sausalito, CA 94965, USA. sylvain.deguise@uconn.edu.
authors.forename: Frances
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Gulland
authors.affiliation: Cetacean Conservation Medicine Group (CMED), Peruvian Centre for Cetacean Research (CEPEC), Pucusana, Lima 20, Peru. gdiguardo@unite.it.
authors.forename: Brenda A
authors.initials: BA
authors.lastname: Jensen
authors.affiliation: Cetacean Conservation Medicine Group (CMED), Peruvian Centre for Cetacean Research (CEPEC), Pucusana, Lima 20, Peru. paul.jepson@ioz.ac.uk.
authors.forename: Paul D
authors.initials: PD
authors.lastname: Jepson
authors.affiliation: Cetacean Conservation Medicine Group (CMED), Peruvian Centre for Cetacean Research (CEPEC), Pucusana, Lima 20, Peru. Mariano.Domingo@cresa.uab.cat.
authors.forename: Ailsa
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Hall
authors.affiliation: Department of Ecosystem and Public Health, University of Calgary, Calgary, AL T2N 4Z6, Canada. ppjduign@ucalgary.ca.
authors.forename: Thijs
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Kuiken
authors.affiliation: Department of Ecosystem and Public Health, University of Calgary, Calgary, AL T2N 4Z6, Canada. ppjduign@ucalgary.ca.
authors.forename: Sandro
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Mazzariol
authors.affiliation: Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ 08544, USA. semorris@princeton.edu.
authors.forename: Sinead E
authors.initials: SE
authors.lastname: Morris
authors.affiliation: Department of Ecosystem and Public Health, University of Calgary, Calgary, AL T2N 4Z6, Canada. ppjduign@ucalgary.ca.
authors.forename: Ole
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Nielsen
authors.affiliation: Department of Ecosystem and Public Health, University of Calgary, Calgary, AL T2N 4Z6, Canada. ashley.banyard@apha.gsi.gov.uk.
authors.forename: Juan A
authors.initials: JA
authors.lastname: Raga
authors.affiliation: Cetacean Conservation Medicine Group (CMED), Peruvian Centre for Cetacean Research (CEPEC), Pucusana, Lima 20, Peru.
authors.forename: Teresa K
authors.initials: TK
authors.lastname: Rowles
authors.affiliation: Department of Ecosystem and Public Health, University of Calgary, Calgary, AL T2N 4Z6, Canada. ppjduign@ucalgary.ca.
authors.forename: Jeremy
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Saliki
authors.affiliation: Cetacean Conservation Medicine Group (CMED), Peruvian Centre for Cetacean Research (CEPEC), Pucusana, Lima 20, Peru.
authors.forename: Eva
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Sierra
authors.affiliation: Department of Ecosystem and Public Health, University of Calgary, Calgary, AL T2N 4Z6, Canada. katie.colegrove@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Nahiid
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Stephens
authors.affiliation: Department of Ecosystem and Public Health, University of Calgary, Calgary, AL T2N 4Z6, Canada. sylvain.deguise@uconn.edu.
authors.forename: Brett
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Stone
authors.affiliation: Department of Ecosystem and Public Health, University of Calgary, Calgary, AL T2N 4Z6, Canada. gdiguardo@unite.it.
authors.forename: Ikuko
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Tomo
authors.affiliation: Department of Ecosystem and Public Health, University of Calgary, Calgary, AL T2N 4Z6, Canada. ppjduign@ucalgary.ca.
authors.forename: Jianning
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: Department of Ecosystem and Public Health, University of Calgary, Calgary, AL T2N 4Z6, Canada. Mariano.Domingo@cresa.uab.cat.
authors.forename: Thomas
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Waltzek
authors.affiliation: Wildlife Zoonoses and Vector Borne Disease Research Group, Animal and Plant Health Agency (APHA), Weybridge, Surrey KT15 3NB, UK. ashley.banyard@apha.gsi.gov.uk.
authors.forename: James F X
authors.initials: JF
authors.lastname: Wellehan
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002591:Cetacea / Q000821:virology*; D018103:Morbillivirus / Q000145:classification / Q000235:genetics / Q000302:isolation & purification / Q000502:physiology*; D018185:Morbillivirus Infections / Q000635:transmission / Q000662:veterinary* / Q000821:virology; D010802:Phylogeny