These tools will no longer be maintained as of December 31, 2024. Archived website can be found here. PubMed4Hh GitHub repository can be found here. Contact NLM Customer Service if you have questions.


PUBMED FOR HANDHELDS

Search MEDLINE/PubMed


  • Title: Detection and Preliminary Characterization of Phocine Distemper Virus in a Stranded Harp Seal (Pagophilus groenlandicus) from the Gulf of St. Lawrence, Canada.
    Author: Daoust PY, Rodrigues TCS, Shea LB, Subramaniam K, Waltzek TB, Nielsen O.
    Journal: J Wildl Dis; 2020 Jul; 56(3):646-650. PubMed ID: 31917631.
    Abstract:
    A lethargic juvenile male harp seal (Pagophilus groenlandicus) in poor nutritional condition was found on the beach on the north shore of Prince Edward Island, Canada, in June 2017. Microscopic examination revealed a severe nonsuppurative encephalitis positive for morbillivirus antigen on immunohistochemistry. Virus isolation attempts were negative. However, phocine distemper virus (PDV) was detected in brain tissue RNA extracts by a seminested reverse transcription PCR that targeted the paramyxovirus RNA-dependent RNA polymerase (pol) gene. Comparison of the resulting partial PDV pol nucleotide sequence revealed it was nearly identical to PDV strains isolated from eastern Atlantic harbor seals (Phoca vitulina vitulina) during a 1988 epizootic in the Wadden and Irish seas, and a western Atlantic harbor seal (Phoca vitulina concolor) that stranded in Maine, US, in 2006. Our study confirmed that closely related PDV strains are circulating in multiple seal species along the coastlines of North America and Europe.
    [Abstract] [Full Text] [Related] [New Search]