Emerging morbillivirus infections of marine mammals: development of two diagnostic approaches

Area of Science:

• Veterinary Virology
• Marine Mammal Health
• Wildlife Disease Diagnostics

Background:

• Morbilliviruses (canine distemper virus, cetacean morbillivirus, phocine distemper virus) have caused significant marine mammal mortality.
• Distinguishing between these genetically related viruses is challenging using classical methods.
• Lack of species-specific reagents hinders accurate serological diagnosis in diverse marine mammal populations.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop novel diagnostic tools for morbilliviral infections in marine mammals.
• To enable rapid, cost-effective differentiation of closely related morbilliviruses.
• To overcome limitations of classical diagnostic techniques in marine mammal virology.

Main Methods:

• Nucleic acid detection utilized reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) combined with restriction endonuclease digestion.
• Antibody detection employed a monoclonal antibody-based competitive enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (c-ELISA).
• These methods were designed to avoid the need for specific anti-species conjugates.

Main Results:

• RT-PCR and restriction digestion successfully differentiated the three main morbillivirus species (CDV, CMV, PDV).
• The c-ELISA provided a reliable method for detecting antibodies across multiple marine mammal species.
• The developed assays offer improved accuracy and efficiency for morbillivirus diagnostics.

Conclusions:

• The developed RT-PCR and c-ELISA assays provide effective solutions for diagnosing morbilliviral infections in marine mammals.
• These methods address key challenges, enabling better identification and surveillance of morbillivirus outbreaks.
• The study contributes significantly to the understanding and management of marine mammal diseases.