Cetacean morbillivirus:
Scientists used drones to find a dangerous Cetacean morbillivirus among whales in the Arctic.
- Cetacean morbillivirus (CeMV) refers to a viral infection affecting marine mammals, particularly cetaceans.
- It belongs to the family Paramyxoviridae, which affects marine mammals such as dolphins, whales, and porpoises.
- These viruses are enveloped, negative-sense single-stranded RNA viruses.
- It has been responsible for numerous outbreaks across the world, especially in the North Atlantic and the Mediterranean.
- It is highly infectious and spread by the respiratory route and direct contact.
- The virus is shed by infected animals in ocular and respiratory secretions, urine, feces, and sloughed skin.
- It impacts the respiratory and neurological systems of the marine mammals, and can lead to mass strandings and deaths.
- There is no treatment for morbillivirus infections in marine mammals, only supportive care.
- The Cetacea are one of the most distinctive and highly specialized orders of mammals.
- Cetaceans (order Cetacea) are aquatic mammals, including whales, dolphins, and porpoises.
- Cetaceans are entirely carnivorous and are distributed in all of the world’s oceans.
