Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2021 Jul;68(4):1736-1743.
doi: 10.1111/tbed.13883. Epub 2020 Oct 30.

Cetacean morbillivirus in Humpback whales' exhaled breath

Kátia R Groch  1 , Diana N H Blazquez  1 , Milton C C Marcondes  2 , Joana Santos  2 , Adriana Colosio  2 , Josué Díaz Delgado  1 , José L Catão-Dias  1
Affiliations

Cetacean morbillivirus in Humpback whales' exhaled breath

Kátia R Groch et al. Transbound Emerg Dis. 2021 Jul.

Abstract

The humpback whale (HW; Megaptera novaeangliae) population that seasonally resides along the Brazilian coast concentrates in the Abrolhos Bank (Bahia and Espírito Santo states) for breeding during austral winter and spring. Cetacean morbillivirus (CeMV, Paramyxoviridae family) is currently one of the most significant biological threats to cetaceans worldwide with high infection and mortality rates. CeMV is pleiotropic yet it has special tropism for the respiratory, lymphoid and nervous system and is primarily transmitted by the aerogenous route. A new lineage of CeMV, the Guiana dolphin morbillivirus (GDMV), is known to affect cetaceans off Brazil. GDMV was first detected in a Guiana dolphin (Sotalia guianensis) stranded in the Abrolhos Bank region, in 2010. In addition to pathologic examinations on stranded HW, pathogen survey of free-ranging HW may provide valuable insight into the epidemiology of diseases. We hypothesized that HW in the Brazilian breeding ground could be exposed to CeMV. Thus, in the present study, we investigated the presence of CeMV in exhaled breath condensates (EBC) of HW in the Abrolhos Bank. Overall, 73 samples of EBC from 48 groups of HW were collected during the breeding seasons of 2011 (n = 16) and 2012 (n = 57). One sample failed to have the reference gene amplified and was excluded from the study. CeMV was detected by a RT-qPCR method in 2 EBC samples, representing 2 whale groups. Phylogenetic analysis of partial morbillivirus phosphoprotein gene showed 100% homology to GDMV. Our results show that HW in Brazil are infected by CeMV with a relative prevalence of 4.3% (2/47) and demonstrate the suitability of using EBC and RT-qPCR as a non-invasive tool for CeMV survey in free-ranging whales. This pioneer study provides scientific basis for non-invasive CeMV monitoring of HW, suggests HW may play a role in the dynamics of CeMV and raises concern for potential conservation implications for this species.

Keywords: Megaptera novaeangliae; SYBR Green real time RT-PCR; cetacean morbillivirus; health assessment; respiratory infection; whale blow.

PubMed Disclaimer

References

REFERENCES

    1. Acevedo-Whitehouse, K., Rocha-Gosselin, A., & Gendron, D. (2010). A novel non-invasive tool for disease surveillance of free-ranging whales and its relevance to conservation programs. Animal Conservation, 13, 217-225. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1469-1795.2009.00326.x
    1. Andriolo, A., Kinas, P. G., Engel, M. H., Martins, C. C. A., & Rufino, A. M. (2010). Humpback whales within the Brazilian breeding ground: Distribution and population size estimate. Endangered Species Research, 11, 233-243. https://doi.org/10.3354/esr00282
    1. Apprill, A., Miller, C. A., Moore, M. J., Durban, J. W., Fearnbach, H., & Barrett-Lennard, L. G. (2017). Extensive core microbiome in drone-captured whale blow supports a framework for health monitoring. Msystems, 2(5), e00119-17. https://doi.org/10.1128/mSystems
    1. Bezamat, C., Wedekin, L. L., & Simões-Lopes, P. C. (2015). Potential ship strikes and density of humpback whales in the Abrolhos Bank breeding ground, Brazil. Aquatic Conservation: Marine and Freshwater Ecosystems, 25, 712-725. https://doi.org/10.1002/aqc.2523
    1. Black, F. L. (1991). Epidemiology of paramyxoviridae. In D. W. Kingsburry (Ed.), The paramyxoviruses (pp. 509-536). Springer.

Supplementary concepts

LinkOut - more resources