Di Guardo Giovanni, Cocumelli Cristiano, Scholl Francesco, Di Francesco Cristina Esmeralda, Speranza Roberto, Pennelli Massimiliano, Eleni Claudia
Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Department of Comparative Biomedical Sciences, University of Teramo, Piazza Aldo Moro 45, 64100 Teramo, Italy.
Dis Aquat Organ. 2011 Jul 12;95(3):247-51. doi: 10.3354/dao02355.
A free-living, striped dolphin Stenella coeruleoalba calf was stranded on the Latium coast of Italy in November 2009. Significant neuropathological findings included non-suppurative meningoencephalitis, microgliosis, neuronal degeneration, astrocytosis, and occasional multinucleate syncytia. Immunohistochemistry (IHC) and reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) for Morbillivirus were positive exclusively from the brain, with morbilliviral antigen and nucleic acid being detected in neurons and, to a lesser extent, in astrocytes. A low neutralizing antibody titer (1:10) against Morbillivirus (Canine distemper virus, CDV) was also found in blood serum, with no simultaneous presence of serum antibodies to Brucella spp. or Toxoplasma gondii. Furthermore, no pathogenic bacteria were isolated from any tissue or biological sample. This is the second report of morbilliviral encephalitis in a striped dolphin stranded along the Italian coastline in a 16 yr period (1993 to 2009). The neurohistopathological, IHC, and biomolecular features of this case are of additional interest, as antigenic and genomic positivity were exclusively confined to the brain of this dolphin, which may have acquired morbilliviral infection either postnatally or transplacentally.
2009年11月，一头自由生活的条纹原海豚（Stenella coeruleoalba）幼崽搁浅在意大利拉齐奥海岸。显著的神经病理学发现包括非化脓性脑膜脑炎、小胶质细胞增生、神经元变性、星形细胞增生以及偶尔出现的多核巨细胞。针对麻疹病毒的免疫组织化学（IHC）和逆转录聚合酶链反应（RT-PCR）仅在脑中呈阳性，在神经元中检测到麻疹病毒抗原和核酸，在星形胶质细胞中检测到的程度较低。血清中还发现针对麻疹病毒（犬瘟热病毒，CDV）的中和抗体滴度较低（1:10），同时不存在针对布鲁氏菌属或弓形虫的血清抗体。此外，从任何组织或生物样本中均未分离出致病细菌。这是16年期间（1993年至2009年）在意大利海岸线上搁浅的条纹原海豚中第二例麻疹病毒性脑炎报告。该病例的神经组织病理学、免疫组织化学和生物分子特征格外引人关注，因为抗原性和基因组阳性仅局限于这头海豚的脑部，它可能在出生后或通过胎盘感染了麻疹病毒。
