Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jun 12, 2026

Necropsy-based Wild Fish Health Assessment
Published on: September 11, 2018
Herpesvirus infection with severe lymphoid necrosis affecting a beaked whale stranded in the Canary Islands
Manuel Arbelo1, Eva Sierra, Fernando Esperón
1Unit of Histology and Veterinary Pathology, Institute for Animal Health, Veterinary School, University of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, Canary Islands, Spain.
Abstract:
This report describes the pathologic findings in a single, adult female Cuvier's beaked whale Ziphius cavirostris stranded in the Canary Islands. The study indicated that this whale died with a severe, systemic, herpesviral infection and clearly exhibited lesions different from those of the fat and gas embolic syndrome described in beaked whale mass strandings associated with sonar exposure. This is the first report of a cetacean alphaherpesvirus infection of the lymphoid system in a beaked whale.
Related Concept Videos
Herpes
Rabies
Genital Herpes
Arboviral Encephalitis
Chickenpox
Cytomegalovirus Disease
