Phocine Distemper virus

Classification

Phocine distemper virus is a species of ssRNA negative-strand virus in the order Mononegavirales, family Paramyxoviridae, and genus Morbillivirus (14).

Introduction

Phocine distemper virus (PDV) is a pathogen of the Morbillivirus genus of viruses that infect a number of mammals (15). PDV more specifically infects pinnipeds (seals, walruses, etc.) and has caused several epidemics in the last one hundred years. In 2002, an outbreak of PDV outbreak killed between 22 ,000 and 30, 000 harbour seals (40% of regional population), one of the largest recorded mass mortality event in marine mammals (18). The virus structure (genome, protein makeup, etc.) has been characterized in the past fifty years, but the dynamics of PDV in the environment, its ecological significance and mode of action, is less clear (1). Active investigation of the virus is crucial considering the impact PDV has had on pinniped populations across the globe (10).

References

[1] [Duignan, P., Van Bressem, M., Baker, J., Barbieri, M., Colegrove, K., De Guise, S., … Wellehan, J. (2014). Phocine Distemper Virus: Current Knowledge and Future Directions. Viruses, 6(12), 5093-5134. doi:10.3390/v6125093]

[2] [Goldstein, T., Mazet, J. A., Gill, V. A., Doroff, A. M., Burek, K. A., & Hammond, J. A. (2009). Phocine Distemper Virus in Northern Sea Otters in the Pacific Ocean, Alaska, USA. Emerging Infectious Diseases, 15(6), 925-927. doi:10.3201/eid1506.090056]

[3] [Hammond, J. A. (2005). Identification and real-time PCR quantification of Phocine distemper virus from two colonies of Scottish grey seals in 2002. Journal of General Virology, 86(9), 2563-2567. doi:10.1099/vir.0.80962-0]

[4][Harris, C. M., Travis, J. M., & Harwood, J. (2008). Evaluating the Influence of Epidemiological Parameters and Host Ecology on the Spread of Phocine Distemper Virus through Populations of Harbour Seals. PLoS ONE, 3(7), e2710. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0002710]

[5] [Härkönen, T., Harding, K., Rasmussen, T. D., Teilmann, J., & Dietz, R. (2007). Age- and Sex-Specific Mortality Patterns in an Emerging Wildlife Epidemic: The Phocine Distemper in European Harbour Seals. PLoS ONE, 2(9), e887. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0000887]

[6] [Ludes-Wehrmeister E., Dupke C., Harder T.C., Baumgärtner W., Haas L., Teilmann J., Dietz R., Jensen L.J. & Siebert U. (2016). Phocine distemper virus (PDV) seroprevalence as predictor for future outbreaks in harbour seals. Veterinary Microbiology 183: 43-49]

[7] [Pádraig J. Duignan, Jeremiah T. Saliki, David J. St. Aubin, James A. House, and Joseph R. Geraci (1994) Neutralizing antibodies to Phocine Distemper Virus in Atlantic Walruses (Odobenus rosmarus rosmarus) from Arctic Canada. Journal of Wildlife Diseases: January 1994, 30(1): 90-94.]

[8] [Saliki, J., Lehenbauer, T. (2001). Monoclonal antibody-based competitive enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay for detection of morbillivirus antibody in marine mammal sera. Journal of Clinical Microbiology, 39(5):1877-81. doi:10.1128/JCM.39.5.1877-1881.2001.]

[9] [Wohlsein, P., Müller, G., Haas, L., Siebert, U., Harder, T. C., & Baumgärtner, W. (2007). Antigenic characterization of phocine distemper virus causing mass mortality in 2002 and its relationship to other morbilliviruses. Archives of Virology, 152(8), 1559-1564. doi:10.1007/s00705-007-0970-9.]

[10] [Lvov, D.K., Shchelkanov, M.Y., Alkhovsky, S.A., Deryabin, P.G. 2015. Zoonotic Viruses in Northern Eurasia. Elsevier. Chapter 5 Order Mononegavirales: 77-106.]

[11] [Rijks J.M., Read F.L., Van de Bildt M.W., Van Bolhuis H.G., Martina B.E., Wagenaar J.A., van der Meulen K., Osterhaus A.D., Kuiken T. (2008). Quantitative analysis of the 2002 phocine distemper epidemic in the Netherlands. Vet. Pathol, 45:516–530. doi: 10.1354/vp.45-4-516.]

[12] [Schumacher U., Horny H.P., Heidemann G., Schultz W., Welsch U. (1990). Histopathological findings in harbour seals (Phoca vitulina) found dead on the German North sea coast. J. Comp. Pathol, 102:299–309. doi: 10.1016/S0021-9975(08)80019-9.]

[13] [Siebert U., Gulland F., Harder T., Janiaux T., Seibel H., Wohlsein P., Baumgartner W. (2010). Epizootics in Harbour Seals (Phoca vitulina): Clinical Aspects. NAMMCO Sci. Publ. 8:265–274.]

[14] [NCBI. Taxonomy Browser: Phocine Morbillivirus. Retrieved Oct. 19, 2018, from https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/Taxonomy/Browser/wwwtax.cgi?mode=Info&id=11240&lvl=3&lin=f&keep=1&srchmode=1&unlock]

[15] [Jo, W., Osterhaus, A. and Ludlow, M. (2018). Transmission of morbilliviruses within and among marine mammal species. Current Opinion in Virology, 28, pp.133-141.]

[16] [Chinnakannan, S.K., Nanda S.K., and Baron, M.D. (2013). Morbillivirus V Proteins Exhibit Multiple Mechanisms to Block Type 1 and Type 2 Interferon Signalling Pathways. PLoS ONE 8(2): e57063. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0057063]

[17] [Müller G, Wohlsein P, Beineke A, Haas L, Greiser-Wilke I, Siebert U, et al. Phocine Distemper in German Seals, 2002. Emerg Infect Dis. 2004;10(4):723-725. https://dx.doi.org/10.3201/eid1004.030591]

[18] [Klepac, P., Pomeroy, L. W., Bjornstad, O. N., Kuiken, T., Osterhaus, A. D., & Rijks, J. M. (2009). Stage-structured transmission of phocine distemper virus in the Dutch 2002 outbreak. Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, 276(1666), 2469-2476. doi:10.1098/rspb.2009.0175]