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Mass die-Off of Caspian seals caused by canine distemper virus
S Kennedy1, T Kuiken, P D Jepson
1Department of Agriculture and Rural Development, Belfast, Northern Ireland. seamus.kennedy@dardni.gov.uk
Emerging Infectious Diseases
|November 15, 2000
Abstract:
Thousands of Caspian seals (Phoca caspica) died in the Caspian Sea from April to August 2000. Lesions characteristic of morbillivirus infection were found in tissue specimens from dead seals. Canine distemper virus infection was identified by serologic examination, reverse transcriptase- polymerase chain reaction, and sequencing of selected P gene fragments. These results implicate canine distemper virus infection as the primary cause of death.