1. Frequency of exposure of endangered Caspian seals to Canine distemper virus, Leptospira interrogans, and Toxoplasma gondii
- Author
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Seyyed Reza Khaleghi, James N. Mills, Amir S. Shirazi, Somayeh Namroodi, and Vahid Kheirabady
- Subjects
Serotype ,Aging ,Veterinary medicine ,Seals, Earless ,Physiology ,animal diseases ,lcsh:Medicine ,Antibodies, Protozoan ,Marine and Aquatic Sciences ,Antibodies, Viral ,Pathology and Laboratory Medicine ,Biochemistry ,Toxoplasma Gondii ,0403 veterinary science ,0302 clinical medicine ,Immune Physiology ,Medicine and Health Sciences ,lcsh:Science ,Distemper Virus, Canine ,Mammals ,Leptospira ,Protozoans ,education.field_of_study ,Seals ,Immune System Proteins ,Multidisciplinary ,biology ,Eukaryota ,04 agricultural and veterinary sciences ,Antibodies, Bacterial ,Leptospirosis ,Bacterial Pathogens ,Leptospira Interrogans ,Medical Microbiology ,Vertebrates ,Pathogens ,Toxoplasma ,Leptospira interrogans ,Research Article ,040301 veterinary sciences ,Immunology ,030231 tropical medicine ,Population ,Marine Biology ,Microbiology ,Antibodies ,03 medical and health sciences ,Dogs ,parasitic diseases ,medicine ,Animals ,Distemper ,Marine Mammals ,education ,Microbial Pathogens ,Pusa ,Bacteria ,Canine distemper ,lcsh:R ,Organisms ,Biology and Life Sciences ,Proteins ,Toxoplasma gondii ,biology.organism_classification ,medicine.disease ,Parasitic Protozoans ,Toxoplasmosis, Animal ,Amniotes ,Earth Sciences ,lcsh:Q - Abstract
Canine distemper virus (CDV), Leptospira interrogans, and Toxoplasma gondii are potentially lethal pathogens associated with decline in marine mammal populations. The Caspian Sea is home for the endangered Caspian seal (Pusa caspica). In the late 1990s and early 2000s, CDV caused a series of mortality events involving at least several thousand Caspian seals. To assess current infection status in Caspian seals, we surveyed for antibodies to three pathogens with potential to cause mortality in marine mammals. During 2015-2017, we tested serum samples from 36, apparently healthy, Caspian seals, accidentally caught in fishing nets in the Caspian Sea off Northern Iran, for antibodies to CDV, L. interrogans, and T. gondii, by virus neutralization, microscopic agglutination, and modified agglutination, respectively. Twelve (33%), 6 (17%), and 30 (83%) samples were positive for CDV, L. interrogans and T. gondii antibodies, respectively. The highest titers of CDV, L. interrogans, and T. gondii antibodies were 16, 400, and 50, respectively. Frequencies of antibody to these pathogens were higher in seals >1 year old compared to seals
- Published
- 2018