Morbillivirus (CeMV) infection in a stranded pilot whale in the Canary islands

Abstract

A male juvenile short finned pilot whale (Globicephala macrorhynchus) was found alive on the beach (Tenerife), the animal died a few hours later and the carcase was transported to the Environmental Protection Department of the Island Government, where a complete necropsy was performed by the veterinary pathologists of the Veterinary School (University of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria). The animal showed a good body condition. During the necropsy, no relevant gross lesions were detected. Tissue samples of all the organs were collected, fixed in formalin, and processed for a routine histological study. Samples from muscle, lung, liver, kidney, spleen and brain were collected and frozen at -80ºC for microbiological studies. Microscopically, the animal showed a focal purulent pneumonia and a severe liver congestion. The most relevant finding was a nonsuppurative encephalitis, with diffuse gliosis and neuronophagia. Perivascular cuffing of lymphocytes and plasma cells was present in the cerebral cortex, thalamic areas and medulla oblongata. From nervous tissues a Cetacean Morbillivirus (CeMV) was identified. Results of sequencing and further comparisons with other sequences described previously confirmed a novel sequence of CeMV, showing a close homology with the long finned pilot whale (Globicephala melas) CeMV strain. The present work represents the first description of a CeMV in the Canary Islands.