Anti-canine distemper virus antibodies in common and grey seals
Hughes, D.E.; Carter, S.D.; Robinson, I.; Clarke, D.D.; Clarke, C.J.
Veterinary Record 130(20): 449-450
1992
ISSN/ISBN: 0042-4900 PMID: 1621345 Document Number: 398999
A survey of seals brought to the RSPCA seal centre in Norfolk, UK carried out following the outbreak of phocid distemper in northern European waters in 1988 showed that the number of seals brought to the centre declined after 1988. Of the common seals (Phoca vitulina) recovered from the Wash, UK in 1989 to 1991, none showed clinical signs of distemper and neither did grey seals (Halichoerus grypus) from other sites on the northeast coast of England. Few showed evidence of immunity to distemper virus, as measured by an ELISA using canine distemper antigens and the numbers of seropositive seals decreased after 1988. The results suggest that high levels of long lasting anti-phocine distemper virus antibodies have not been produced naturally in the seal populations in response to the initial viral infection even though seals have been shown to respond well to vaccination with canine distemper virus vaccine.