van de Bildt MWG †*, Kuiken T *, Osterhaus ADME †*
† Seal
Rehabilitation and Research Centre, Hoofdstraat 94a, 9968 AG Pieterburen, The
Netherlands
* Institute of Virology, Erasmus MC Rotterdam, P.O. Box 1738, 3000 DR, Rotterdam,
The Netherlands
After the initial identification of phocine distemper virus (PDV) in 1988
as the cause of a harbour seal (Phoca vitulina) die-off in northern European
waters, morbilliviruses were also identified in stranded harbour porpoises
(Phocoena phocoena) and striped dolphins (Stenella coeruleoalba) that died
during a mass mortality. Upon characterization they were named porpoise morbillivirus
(PMV) and dolphin morbillivirus (DMV) respectively, and are considered two
strains of the same viral species: cetacean morbillivirus (CMV).
To improve
our knowledge of the relationship between PMV and DMV, phylogenetic analysis
was performed using the sequence information requested by the World Health
Organisation (WHO) for genotypic characterisation of MV isolates. Phylogenetic
comparison of PMV and DMV isolates from porpoises and dolphins respectively
was performed using the 456 nucleotides encoding the C terminal end of the
nucleoprotein (N) and the complete haemagglutinin (H) gene.
PMV and DMV were more divergent than the most distantly related measles virus
strains. The results from these phylogenetic studies combined with studies
concerning cell tropism, host range and geographic localization, challenge
the current classification of DMV and PMV as two strains of the same species.
Instead, the wide divergence suggests that they are different species.
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