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Volume 20, Number 4—April 2014
Dispatch

Cetacean Morbillivirus in Coastal Indo-Pacific Bottlenose Dolphins, Western Australia

Nahiid StephensComments to Author , Pádraig J. Duignan, Jianning Wang, John Bingham, Hugh Finn, Lars Bejder, Anthony P. Patterson, Carly Holyoake, and Anthony
Author affiliations: Murdoch University, Perth, Western Australia, Australia (N. Stephens, H. Finn, L. Bejder, C. Holyoake); University of Calgary, Calgary, Alberta, Canada (P.J. Duignan); CSIRO, East Geelong, Victoria, Australia (J. Wang, J. Bingham); Agri-Food and Biosciences Institute, Belfast, Northern Ireland, UK (I.A.P. Patterson)

Main Article

Table

Summary of findings for 3 bottlenose dolphins recovered from the Swan River, Western Australia, Australia*

Dolphin no. Date recovered Description Pathologic findings IHC results RT-PCR results
1
 2009 Jun 5
 Juvenile male in good body condition; TL 210 cm
 Too decomposed for necropsy
 ND
 ND
2 2009 Jun 8 Juvenile male in good body condition; TL 210 cm; postmortem interval ≈72 h 1. Encephalitis: severe, focally extensive, suppurative, and necrotizing, with multifocal vasculitis and thrombus formation, with intra-lesional fungal hyphae† Widespread positive staining of lymphocytes, mesenteric lymph node‡ Positive for morbillivirus N and P genes§
2. Splenic and mesenteric node lymphoid depletion, severe
3. Segmental jejunal submucosal hemorrhage with thrombosis
4. Pulmonary (Halocercus sp.) and gastric (Anisakis sp.) nematodes; trematode (Campanula sp.) infestation of the biliary and pancreatic ducts
3 2009 Jun 21 Subadult female in good body condition; TL 222.5 cm; postmortem interval ≈72 h 1. Bronchointerstitial pneumonia: multifocal, pyogranulomatous, associated with intralesional fungal hyphae¶ Widespread staining of lymphocytes, mesenteric lymph nodes; weak staining of vascular endothelium, mesenteric lymph node; widespread staining in hepatic Kupffer cells, sinusoidal endothelial cells, and biliary epithelium# Positive for morbillivirus N and P genes**
2. Nephritis: multifocal, necrotizing, severe, acute, with intralesional bacteria
3. Severe systemic lymphoid depletion
4. Fishing line entanglement, right fluke: chronic and proliferative, with granulation tissue formation, dermatitis, and hyperkeratosis
5. Pulmonary (Halocercus sp.) and gastric (Anisakis sp.) nematodes; trematode (Campanula sp.) infestation of the biliary and pancreatic ducts

*Located at 32°04′S, 115°48′E. TL, total length in centimeters; IHC, immunohistochemical; RT-PCR, reverse transcription PCR; ND, not done; N, nucleoprotein; P, phosphoprotein.
†See Figure 1, panel A.
‡See Figure 1, panel E.
§See Figure 2, Swan River 1.
¶See Figure 1, panels B–D.
#See Figure 1, panel F.
**See Figure 2, Swan River 2.

Main Article

Page created: February 28, 2014
Page updated: February 28, 2014
Page reviewed: February 28, 2014
The conclusions, findings, and opinions expressed by authors contributing to this journal do not necessarily reflect the official position of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, the Public Health Service, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, or the authors' affiliated institutions. Use of trade names is for identification only and does not imply endorsement by any of the groups named above.
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