(1) Weddell seals in the Antarctica had high neutralizing antibody titres to seal- and feline herpesvirus and none against phocine distemper virus.
(2) Changes in abundance at haul-out sites were followed, and data on the number of deaths collected, to describe the pattern and extent of mortality resulting from the 1988 phocine distemper virus outbreak in the Moray Firth common seal population.
(3) Peroxidase-conjugated anti-CDV immunoglobulin preparations were used for the detection and titration of CDV, seal-derived (phocine) distemper virus (PDV) and rinderpest virus (RPV) in Vero cell cultures.
(4) Bordetella bronchiseptica proved to be an important secondary invader in phocine distemper virus infected seals.
(5) Following the observation of seroconversion against canine distemper virus (CDV) in diseased seals (Osterhaus & Vedder 1988) a CDV-like morbillivirus (phocine distemper virus, PDV) was identified in organs of diseased animals.
(6) Common seal populations around the Scottish coast were less severly devastated by phocine distemper than those on the Continent.
(7) A morbillivirus was isolated from lung tissue of a porpoise which had lesions similar to those of phocine distemper.
(8) The virus (tentatively called Phocine Distemper Virus, PDV) is difficult to grow in culture making rapid diagnosis difficult.
(9) In the Norddeich orphanage seals about four to five months of age were exposed intranasally and by contact to a phocine herpesvirus which originated from a young seal in this station.
(10) The biochemical characterisation of phocine distemper virus (PDV) has shown that PDV is related to but clearly distinct from canine distemper virus (CDV) and relative to its relationship with CDV is only remotely related to the other morbilliviruses, namely measles virus (MV) or rinderpest virus (RPV) and peste-des-petits-ruminants virus (PPRV).
(11) From the increase in antibody titre following the last fatal case it was concluded that the devastating epidemic sweeping through the Norddeich Orphanage was primarily due to phocine distemper.
(12) The nucleotide sequence of the gene encoding the fusion protein of phocine distemper virus has been determined.
(13) A few animals with proven phocine distemper had titres of less than 64, this being evidence of a more profound immunosuppression.
(14) Immunoperoxidase staining using monoclonal antibodies to phocine distemper virus confirmed the presence of morbillivirus antigens in lung and brain.
(15) The 'time, place, individual' approach, widely used in characterising human epidemics, was applied to the 1988 phocine distemper virus (PDV) epizootic affecting North Sea seals.
(16) Because of the clinical and pathological similarity of the disease in seals to that of distemper in dogs, the name phocine distemper virus (PDV) has been proposed.
(17) From 16 (14%) out of 112 dead or euthanized seals originating from wildlife and seal orphanages phocine morbillivirus was isolated.
(18) The death of many seals believed to be infected with phocine distemper virus was found to be associated with a variety of mainly opportunistic bacterial pathogens.
(19) The influence of polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) on phocine distemper virus (PDV) infections in harbour seals (Phoca vitulina) was studied.
(20) The phocine morbillivirus was detected by typical cytopathogenic alteration and by peroxidase-linked antibody (PLA) assay, respectively.