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1 January 1992 SEROLOGIC STUDY OF PHOCINE DISTEMPER IN A POPULATION OF HARBOR SEALS IN SCOTLAND
P. M. Thompson, H. J. C. Cornwell, H. M. Ross, D. Miller
Author Affiliations +
Abstract

A serologic survey of the prevalence of morbillivirus antibodies was conducted in a population of harbor seals (Phoca vitulina) from northeastern Scotland, where mortality was comparatively low during the 1988 phocine distemper virus outbreak. None of the 12 seals sampled before the epizootic were seropositive. Thirty-five (52%) of 68 seals sampled after the beginning of the epizootic were seropositive, although there were significant age-related differences in both the number of seropositive individuals and in antibody levels. Marking studies showed that most seropositive seals caught during the peak of the epizootic survived for several months. Thus, the low mortality observed in this population did not appear to result from a lack of contact with the virus.

Thompson, Cornwell, Ross, and Miller: SEROLOGIC STUDY OF PHOCINE DISTEMPER IN A POPULATION OF HARBOR SEALS IN SCOTLAND
P. M. Thompson, H. J. C. Cornwell, H. M. Ross, and D. Miller "SEROLOGIC STUDY OF PHOCINE DISTEMPER IN A POPULATION OF HARBOR SEALS IN SCOTLAND," Journal of Wildlife Diseases 28(1), 21-27, (1 January 1992). https://doi.org/10.7589/0090-3558-28.1.21
Received: 13 July 1990; Published: 1 January 1992
KEYWORDS
epizootic
field study
Harbor Seal
morbillivirus
Phoca vitulina
Phocine distemper virus
serologic survey
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