Comparative antibody response in harbour and grey seals natually infected by a morbillivirus

The antibody response of free-ranging harbour and grey seals, naturally infected by a morbillivirus, was assessed using a virus neutralizing test and a radio-immunoprecipitation assay. The prevalence of antibody was similar between species, however, grey seals had significantly higher virus neutrali...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inVeterinary immunology and immunopathology Vol. 55; no. 4; pp. 341 - 349
Main Authors Duignan, P.J, Duffy, N, Rima, B.K, Geraci, J.R
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published 1997
Subjects
animal diseases
animal health
aquatic organisms
viral diseases of animals and humans
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Summary:The antibody response of free-ranging harbour and grey seals, naturally infected by a morbillivirus, was assessed using a virus neutralizing test and a radio-immunoprecipitation assay. The prevalence of antibody was similar between species, however, grey seals had significantly higher virus neutralizing titers. Serum from clinically healthy grey seals precipitated the nucleocapsid (N) protein along with the hemagglutinin (H) and fusion (F) glycoproteins. By contrast, significantly fewer harbour seal sera precipitated the envelope glycoproteins and responses were weaker than those of grey seals. One harbour seal with acute morbillivirus pneumonia, and two with encephalitis precipitated only the N protein. Serum from four harbour seals with encephalitis weakly recognized the envelope glycoproteins. Thus, the antibody response of grey seals appears more competent than that of harbour seals with respect to morbillivirus antigens. We speculate that this difference between the species may be an important determinant of morbillivirus susceptibility.
ISSN:0165-2427
1873-2534