Domingo M, Vilafranca M, Visa J, Prats N, Trudgett A, Visser I
Dept. of Pathology, Veterinary Faculty, Barcelona, Spain.
Vet Microbiol. 1995 May;44(2-4):229-39. doi: 10.1016/0378-1135(95)00016-4.
In the summer of 1990 an epizootic infection caused by a morbillivirus (DMV) killed several thousand striped dolphins (Stenella coeruleoalba) in the Mediterranean Sea. In 1991 and 1992 the epizootic reached Italian and Greek waters. The infection by DMV in the acute period of the epizootic caused encephalitis, pneumonia and depletion of lymph nodes. After 1990, the systemic infection apparently disappeared from the Catalonian coast, giving way to cases of chronic infection of the CNS. Dolphins that died between 1991 and May 1994 were necropsied, and investigated for lesions due to DMV, and for the presence of morbillivirus antigen in tissues. Encephalitis occurred in 6 dolphins in which DMV antigen was demonstrated in the CNS and which were without lesions or antigen in other, non-nervous tissues. Inflammatory lesions, gliosis, and DMV antigen decreased in density and amount from cerebral grey matter, through the thalamic areas to the medulla oblongata. The cerebellum was usually spared. Lesions consisted of non-suppurative encephalitis, with diffuse gliosis and glial nodules and neuronophagia, and loss of neurons. Perivascular cuffing of lymphocytes and plasma cells was present in the cerebral cortex and the white matter beneath the cortex. Multinucleate syncytia were not detected in any of the dolphins. The haemagglutinin of DMV was detected mainly in neurons in the cerebral cortical areas. There was no clear relationship between the presence and amount of DMV antigen and the density or chronicity of lesions. Viral inclusions were seen in haematoxylin and eosin stained sections in 3/6 dolphins, principally in the nucleus and the cytoplasm of neurons. In the immunoperoxidase stained sections, dense granular deposits of chromogen, similar to viral inclusions, were evident in all 6 dolphins. The change in the distribution of lesions and of DMV antigen, from systemic to localized in the CNS, and the clustering of systemic DMV infections in the first four months of the epizootic, giving rise to sporadic occurrence of local CNS infection in the subsequent four years, as well as the chronic nature of the CNS lesions, which closely resembles subacute sclerosing panencephalitis, strongly support the existence of a chronic morbillivirus infection in the striped dolphin, as a delayed consequence of the 1990 epizootic.
1990年夏天，一种麻疹病毒（DMV）引起的 epizootic 感染导致地中海数千只条纹海豚（Stenella coeruleoalba）死亡。1991年和1992年，这种 epizootic 蔓延到意大利和希腊海域。在 epizootic 的急性期，DMV 感染导致脑炎、肺炎和淋巴结萎缩。1990年后，加泰罗尼亚海岸的全身性感染明显消失，取而代之的是中枢神经系统慢性感染病例。对1991年至1994年5月间死亡的海豚进行了尸检，调查了 DMV 引起的病变以及组织中麻疹病毒抗原的存在情况。6只海豚发生了脑炎，其中中枢神经系统中检测到 DMV 抗原，而其他非神经组织中无病变或抗原。炎症病变、胶质细胞增生以及 DMV 抗原的密度和数量从大脑灰质、通过丘脑区域到延髓逐渐减少。小脑通常未受影响。病变包括非化脓性脑炎，伴有弥漫性胶质细胞增生、胶质结节和噬神经元现象以及神经元丧失。大脑皮层和皮层下白质出现淋巴细胞和浆细胞的血管周围套袖现象。在任何一只海豚中均未检测到多核巨细胞。DMV 的血凝素主要在大脑皮层区域的神经元中检测到。DMV 抗原的存在和数量与病变的密度或慢性程度之间没有明确的关系。在苏木精和伊红染色切片中，3/6的海豚可见病毒包涵体，主要在神经元的细胞核和细胞质中。在免疫过氧化物酶染色切片中，所有6只海豚中均可见与病毒包涵体相似的致密颗粒状显色剂沉积物。病变和 DMV 抗原的分布从全身性转变为局限于中枢神经系统，以及 epizootic 前四个月全身性 DMV 感染的聚集，导致随后四年局部中枢神经系统感染的散发性发生，以及中枢神经系统病变的慢性性质，与亚急性硬化性全脑炎非常相似，有力地支持了条纹海豚中存在慢性麻疹病毒感染，这是1990年 epizootic 的延迟后果。
