Research and characterization of Morbiliviruses of cetaceans in Brazil

• Grant number: 14/24932-2
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Post-Doctoral
• Effective date (Start): March 01, 2015
• Effective date (End): November 30, 2018
• Field of knowledge: Agronomical Sciences - Veterinary Medicine - Animal Pathology
• Acordo de Cooperação: Coordination of Improvement of Higher Education Personnel (CAPES)
• Principal Investigator: Jose Luiz Catao Dias
• Grantee: Kátia Regina Groch
• Host Institution: Faculdade de Medicina Veterinária e Zootecnia (FMVZ). Universidade de São Paulo (USP). São Paulo , SP, Brazil
• Associated scholarship(s): 15/05043-5 - Pathology of Morbillivirus and assessment of selected co-infections in cetaceans From the Brazilian coast, BE.EP.PD

Abstract

The genus Morbillivirus (Paramyxoviridae family, Mononegavirales order) shows single-stranded RNA and consists of antigenically related species, including the human measles, canine distemper, rinderpest and peste des petits ruminants, among others. They are characterized by acute infection, high transmissibility and high mortality rates. Since 1988, when Morbillivirus infection was discovered in marine animals, more than 10 epizootic outbreaks with high mortality rates affected pinnipeds and cetaceans in the northern hemisphere, constituting a major natural threat to marine mammals. No one knows exactly what leads to the occurrence of these outbreaks. The main lesions associated with infection in marine mammals include severe bronchointerstitial pneumonia, non-suppurative meningoencephalitis and immunosuppression, favoring the occurrence of opportunistic viral infections (family Herpesviridae), parasite (Toxoplasma gondii), bacteria (Brucella spp.) and fungal infections (Aspergillus spp.). Although serological investigations indicate the presence of the virus in all major oceans, just recently fatal cases were recorded in the southern hemisphere, two in Australia and one in Brazil. The fatal case identified in a estuarine dolphin (Sotalia guianensis) in Brazil indicates that the virus is present on our coast, and raises concerns about the role of the agent in cases of mortality and the possibility of occurrence of epizootics. A comparison of partial sequences from a conserved region of the virus (P gene) showed that the variant identified in Brazil phylogenetically differs from the variants affecting cetaceans in the northern hemisphere, suggesting that it represents a new strain or a new lineage of cetacean morbillivirus. The overall objectives of this project, which has the collaboration of several national and international institutions, are to investigate the occurrence and characterize the morbillivirus infection in cetaceans from the Brazilian coast. Detection of the virus will be carried out by means of immunohistochemical staining using antibody against canine distemper virus, which cross-react with cetacean morbillivirus, as well as by RT-PCR using primers which amplify conserved regions of the viral genome. Markers of different regions of the viral genome will be used for the molecular characterization of a new variant of morbillivirus recently detected in Brazil. Serological tests will be performed to detect levels of antibodies in the serum of animals and infer epidemiological aspects. By means of histopathological techniques we will characterize microscopic changes and infection patterns of positively infected hosts. The data obtained here will elucidate phylogenetic aspects of the Morbillivirus present in our coast and infer on pathological and epidemiological aspects of cetaceans morbiliviruses in Brazil. (AU)

Scientific publications

(17)

(References retrieved automatically from Web of Science and SciELO through information on FAPESP grants and their corresponding numbers as mentioned in the publications by the authors)

CARVALHO, V. L.; GROCH, K. R.; CATAO-DIAS, J. L.; MEIRELLES, A. C. O.; SILVA, C. P. N.; MONTEIRO, A. N. B.; DIAZ-DELGADO, J.. Cerebral and cardiac congenital malformations in neonatal West Indian manatees (Trichechus manatus). Journal of Comparative Pathology, v. 166, p. 29-34, JAN 2019. (14/24932-2, 17/02223-8, 15/00735-6)

DIAZ-DELGADO, J.; GOMES-BORGES, J. C.; MONTEIRO SILVEIRA, A.; EINHARDT-VERGARA, J.; GROCH, K. R.; CIRQUEIRA, C. S.; SANSONE, M.; GATTAMORTA, M. A.; MATUSHIMA, E. R.; CATAO-DIAS, J. L.. Primary Multicentric Pulmonary Low-grade Fibromyxoid Sarcoma and Chelonid Alphaherpesvirus 5 Detection in a Leatherback Sea Turtle (Dermochelys coriacea). Journal of Comparative Pathology, v. 168, p. 1-7, APR 2019. (14/24932-2, 17/02223-8, 15/00735-6)

NAKAGUN, SHOTARO; DIAZ-DELGADO, JOSUE; GROCH, KATIA R.; KOBAYASHI, YOSHIYASU. Intrapancreatic accessory spleen in a harbor porpoise (Phocoena phocoena). JOURNAL OF VETERINARY MEDICAL SCIENCE, v. 80, n. 4, p. 701-705, APR 2018. (14/24932-2, 17/02223-8)

GROCH, KATIA REGINA; DIAZ-DELGADO, JOSUE; MARCONDES, MILTON C. C.; COLOSIO, ADRIANA CASTALDO; SANTOS-NETO, ELITIERI B.; CARVALHO, VITOR LUZ; BOOS, GISELA SILVA; OLIVEIRA DE MEIRELLES, ANA CAROLINA; DA CUNHA RAMOSE, HERNANI GOMES; GUIMARAES, JULIANA PLACIDO; et al. Pathology and causes of death in stranded humpback whales (Megaptera novaeangliae) from Brazil. PLoS One, v. 13, n. 5, MAY 16 2018. (15/05043-5, 15/00735-6, 12/00021-5, 11/08357-0, 14/24932-2)

GROCH, KATIA R.; SANTOS-NETO, ELITIERI B.; DIAZ-DELGADO, JOSUE; IKEDA, JOANA M. P.; CARVALHO, RAFAEL R.; OLIVEIRA, RAISSA B.; GUARI, EMI B.; BISI, TATIANA L.; AZEVEDO, ALEXANDRE F.; LAILSON-BRITO, JOSE; et al. Guiana Dolphin Unusual Mortality Event and Link to Cetacean Morbillivirus, Brazil. Emerging Infectious Diseases, v. 24, n. 7, p. 1349-1354, JUL 2018. (14/24932-2, 15/00735-6, 17/02223-8)

GROCH, KATIA R.; DIAZ-DELGADO, JOSUE; SANTOS-NETO, ELITIERI B.; IKEDA, JOANA M. P.; CARVALHO, RAFAEL R.; OLIVEIRA, RAISSA B.; GUARI, EMI B.; FLACH, LEONARDO; SIERRA, EVA; GODINHO, ANA I.; et al. The Pathology of Cetacean Morbillivirus Infection and Comorbidities in Guiana Dolphins During an Unusual Mortality Event (Brazil, 2017-2018). VETERINARY PATHOLOGY, v. 57, n. 6, p. 845-857, NOV 2020. (17/24335-2, 15/05043-5, 15/00735-6, 14/24932-2, 17/02223-8)

GROCH, KATIA R.; CATAO-DIAS, JOSE L.; GROCH, KARINA R.; KOLESNIKOVAS, CRISTIANE K. M.; DE CASTILHO, V, PEDRO; MOREIRA, LUCIANA M. P.; BARROS, CECIL R. M. B.; MORAIS DE MEDEIROS, CAMILA R.; RENAULT-BRAGA, EDUARDO P.; SANSONE, MARCELO; et al. Pathologic findings and causes of death in southern right whales Eubalaena australis, Brazil. DISEASES OF AQUATIC ORGANISMS, v. 137, n. 1, p. 23-31, NOV 28 2019. (14/24932-2, 17/02223-8, 15/00735-6)

MARIANI, DANIELA BUENO; GUIMARAES, JULIANA PLACIDO; BATISTA, RENATA GUEDES; BRUM, ANDREI; GROCH, KATIA REGINA; DIAZ-DELGADO, JOSUE; VERGARA PARENTE, JOCIERY EINHARDT. Asfixia por deslocamento laríngeo associado a consumo de presa de grande tamanho em boto-cinza (Sotalia guianensis), Brasil. Ciência Rural, v. 50, n. 2, 2020. (14/24932-2, 17/02223-8)

SANCHEZ-SARMIENTO, ANGELICA M.; CARVALHO, VITOR L.; DIAZ-DELGADO, JOSUE; RESSIO, RODRIGO A.; FERNANDES, NATALIA C. C. A.; GUERRA, JULIANA M.; SACRISTAN, CARLOS; GROCH, KATIA R.; SILVESTRE-PEREZ, NATALIA; FERREIRA-MACHADO, EDUARDO; et al. Molecular, serological, pathological, immunohistochemical and microbiological investigation of Brucella spp. in marine mammals of Brazil reveals new cetacean hosts. TRANSBOUNDARY AND EMERGING DISEASES, v. 66, n. 4, p. 1674-1692, JUL 2019. (14/24932-2, 15/00735-6)

DIAZ-DELGADO, JOSUE; GROCH, KATIA R.; SIERRA, EVA; SACCHINI, SIMONA; ZUCCA, DANIELE; QUESADA-CANALES, OSCAR; ARBELO, MANUEL; FERNANDEZ, ANTONIO; SANTOS, ELITIERI; IKEDA, JOANA; et al. Comparative histopathologic and viral immunohistochemical studies on CeMV infection among Western Mediterranean, Northeast-Central, and Southwestern Atlantic cetaceans. PLoS One, v. 14, n. 3, MAR 20 2019. (15/00735-6, 15/05043-5, 17/02223-8, 17/24335-2, 14/24932-2)

DIAZ-DELGADO, J.; GROCH, K. R.; WIEGAND, M. W.; SECCHI, E. R.; RESSIO, R.; NATALIA, F. C. C.; CATAO-DIAS, J. L.. Choroid Plexus Cyst in a Neonatal Burmeister's Porpoise (Phocoena spinipinnis). Journal of Comparative Pathology, v. 157, n. 1, p. 51-56, JUL 2017. (14/24932-2, 15/00735-6, 15/05043-5)

GROCH, KATIA R.; GROCH, KARINA R.; KOLESNIKOVAS, CRISTIANE K. M.; DE CASTILHO, PEDRO V.; MOREIRA, LUCIANA M. P.; BARROS, CECIL R. M. B.; MORAIS, CAMILA R.; RENAULT-BRAGA, EDUARDO P.; SIERRA, EVA; FERNANDEZ, ANTONIO; et al. Cetacean morbillivirus in Southern Right Whales, Brazil. TRANSBOUNDARY AND EMERGING DISEASES, v. 66, n. 1, p. 606-610, JAN 2019. (17/02223-8, 15/00735-6, 14/24932-2, 15/05043-5)

GROCH, KATIA R.; DIAZ-DELGADO, JOSUE; SACRISTAN, CARLOS; OLIVEIRA, DENYIELIM E.; SOUZA, GABRIELA; SANCHEZ-SARMIENTO, ANGELICA M.; COSTA-SILVA, SAMIRA; MARIGO, JULIANA; CASTILHO, PEDRO V.; CREMER, MARTA J.; et al. Pulmonary and systemic fungal infections in an Atlantic spotted dolphin and a Bryde's whale, Brazil. DISEASES OF AQUATIC ORGANISMS, v. 128, n. 1, p. 73-79, MAR 22 2018. (14/24932-2, 15/00735-6, 17/02223-8)

GROCH, KATIA R.; TANIWAKI, SUELI AKEMI; FAVERO, CINTIA MARIA; BRANDAO, PAULO EDUARDO; DIAZ-DELGADO, JOSUE; FERNANDEZ, ANTONIO; CATAO-DIAS, JOSE LUIZ; SIERRA, EVA. A novel real-time PCR to detect Cetacean morbillivirus in Atlantic cetaceans. Journal of Virological Methods, v. 285, p. 6-pg., 2020-11-01. (15/05043-5, 17/02223-8, 14/24932-2, 15/00735-6)

DIAZ-DELGADO, JOSUE; GROCH, KATIA R.; RAMOS, HERNANI G. C.; COLOSIO, ADRIANA CASTALDO; ALVES, BRUNA FARIAS; PENA, HILDA F. J.; CATAO-DIAS, JOSE L.. Fatal Systemic Toxoplasmosis by a Novel Non-archetypal Toxoplasma gondii in a Bryde's Whale (Balaenoptera edeni). FRONTIERS IN MARINE SCIENCE, v. 7, JUN 3 2020. (14/24932-2, 17/02223-8)

DIAZ-DELGADO, J.; RESSIO, R.; GROCH, K. R.; CATAO-DIAS, J. L.. Immunohistochemical investigation of the cross-reactivity of selected cell markers in formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded lymphoid tissues of Franciscana (Pontoporia blainvillei). VETERINARY IMMUNOLOGY AND IMMUNOPATHOLOGY, v. 200, p. 52-58, JUN 2018. (14/24932-2, 15/00735-6, 17/02223-8)

GROCH, KATIA R.; JERDY, HASSAN; MARCONDES, MILTON C. C.; BARBOSA, LUPERCIO A.; RAMOS, HERNANI G. C.; PAVANELLI, LARISSA; FORNELLS, LUZ ALBA M. G.; SILVA, MARINA B.; SOUZA, GILIANE S.; KANASHIRO, MILTON M.; et al. Cetacean Morbillivirus Infection in a Killer Whale (Orcinus orca) from Brazil. Journal of Comparative Pathology, v. 181, p. 26-32, NOV 2020. (15/00735-6, 15/05043-5, 17/02223-8, 14/24932-2)