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Volume 31, Number 12—December 2025

Dispatch

Persistent Infection in Harbor Seals 12–13 Years after Phocine Distemper Virus Epizootics in 1988 and 2002, North Sea

Marco W.G. van de Bildt, Jolianne M. Rijks, Trine Hammer Jensen, Sophie M.J.M. Brasseur, Marja J.L. Kik, Albert D.M.E. Osterhaus, Andrea Gröne, Thijs KuikenComments to Author , and Jooske IJzer
Author affiliation: Erasmus University Medical Centre, Rotterdam, the Netherlands (M.W.G. van de Bildt, T. Kuiken); Dutch Wildlife Health Centre, Utrecht, the Netherlands (J.M. Rijks, M.J.L. Kik, J. IJzer); Aalborg University, Aalborg, Denmark (T. Hammer Jensen); Wageningen Marine Research, Den Helder, the Netherlands (S.M.J.M. Brasseur); Utrecht University, Utrecht (M.J.L. Kik, A. Gröne, J. IJzer); University of Veterinary Medicine, Hannover, Germany (A.D.M.E. Osterhaus)

Main Article

Figure 1

Evidence of persistent infection in 2 harbor seals stranded in the North Sea region years after phocine distemper virus epizootics. A) Marked perivascular accumulation of lymphocytes and plasma cells stained with hematoxylin and eosin from a seal infected in the 1988 epizootic outbreak (case 1). Original magnification ×200. B) Vacuolation and demyelination (between arrowheads) in the cervical spinal cord in case 1, stained with Kluver luxol fast blue. Original magnification ×20. C) Phocine distemper virus antigen expression in neuronal cell body (arrows) and axons or dendrites (arrowheads) of the spinal cord in case 1 by immunohistochemistry using monoclonal antibody against canine distemper virus. Original magnification ×400. D) Phocine distemper virus antigen expression in neuronal cell bodies (arrows) and axons or dendrites (arrowheads) of the spinal cord of a seal infected in the 2002 epizootic outbreak (case 2) by immunohistochemistry using monoclonal antibody against canine distemper virus. Original magnification ×400.

Figure 1. Evidence of persistent infection in 2 harbor seals stranded in the North Sea region years after phocine distemper virus epizootics. A) Marked perivascular accumulation of lymphocytes and plasma cells stained with hematoxylin and eosin from a seal infected in the 1988 epizootic outbreak (case 1). Original magnification ×200. B) Vacuolation and demyelination (between arrowheads) in the cervical spinal cord in case 1, stained with Kluver luxol fast blue. Original magnification ×20. C) Phocine distemper virus antigen expression in neuronal cell body (arrows) and axons or dendrites (arrowheads) of the spinal cord in case 1 by immunohistochemistry using monoclonal antibody against canine distemper virus. Original magnification ×400. D) Phocine distemper virus antigen expression in neuronal cell bodies (arrows) and axons or dendrites (arrowheads) of the spinal cord of a seal infected in the 2002 epizootic outbreak (case 2) by immunohistochemistry using monoclonal antibody against canine distemper virus. Original magnification ×400.

Main Article

Page created: November 17, 2025
Page updated: January 01, 2026
Page reviewed: January 01, 2026
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