Search results | Digital Commons of Moss Landing Marine Laboratories

Title: Antibodies to phocine herpesvirus-1 are common in North American harbor seals (Phoca Vitulina),
Description: Phocine herpesvirus-1 (PhHV-1) has been associated with morbidity and high mortality in neonatal harbor seals (Phoca vitulina) along the Pacific coast of California (USA) and in northern Europe. Seals dying with PhHV-1 associated disease in California primarily have histopathologic evidence of adrenal necrosis or adrenalitis with herpesviral inclusion bodies. Little is known about prevalence of exposure to PhHV-1, modes of disease transmission, and viral pathogenesis in free-ranging harbor seal populations. To evaluate the prevalence in North America, 866 serum samples collected between 1994 and 2002 from harbor seals captured or stranded on the Pacific and Atlantic coasts of North America were assayed by enzyme linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) for evidence of PhHV-1 exposure. Samples from three harbor seal age classes (pre-weaned, weaned, and subadults/adults) were obtained from each of four regions to compare exposure among sex, age class, and region. We found increasing prevalence with age as 37.5% of pre-weaned pups, 87.6% of weaned pups, and 99.0% of subadults and adults were seropositive. When accounting for age, no associations between seropositivity and sex or location of harbor seals were detected. These data indicate that PhHV-1 is endemic in the harbor seal populations of North America. © Wildlife Disease Association 2003., Cited By (since 1996):7, Marine Mammals, Birds & Turtles, ,
Author: Goldstein, Gulland, Aldridge, Harvey, Rowles, Lambourn, Jeffries, Measures, Yochem, Stewart, Small, King, Stott, Mazet
Date: 2003-01-01T00:00:00Z

Title: Genetic substructure of the pacific harbor seal (Phoca vitulina richardsi) off Washington, Oregon, and California
Description: Genetic substructure among groups of Pacific harbor seals, Phoca vitulina richardsi, along the western coast of the United States was investigated using mitochondrial DNA sequences. Blood and tissue samples were removed from 86 seals inhabiting Puget Sound and the Pacific coasts of Washington, Oregon, and California. A 320 base-pair segment of the control region was amplified using the polymerase chain reaction and directly sequenced. These data indicated a high level of diversity. Thirty variable sites were found that define 47 mitochondrial haplotypes. Among groups of P. v. richardsi sampled, 5 haplotypes were shared, but most (42) were unique to a locality. Haplotypic frequency and an Analysis of Molecular Variance (AMOVA) revealed significant differences (P = 0.001) among regions. Phylogenetic analysis indicated Puget Sound seals possess unique divergent lineages not found in seals from the coasts of Washington, Oregon, and California. These lineages may represent haplotypes from north of Washington, which is consistent with late reproductive timing of harbor seals from Puget Sound., Cited By (since 1996):19, CODEN: MMSCE, Marine Mammals, Birds & Turtles Harbor Seals
Author: Lamont, Vida, Harvey, Jeffries, Brown, Huber, Delong, Thomas
Date: 1996-01-01T00:00:00Z

Title: Methods of capturing, handling, and tagging harbor seals,
Description: , , ,
Author: Jeffries, Brown, Harvey
Date: 1993-01-01T00:00:00Z

Title: Blastogenesis and interleukin-2 receptor expression assays in the harbor seal (Phoca vitulina),
Description: Cited By (since 1996):12, , , ,
Author: DiMolfetto-Landon, Erickson, Blanchard-Channell, Jeffries, Harvey, Jessup, Ferrick, Stott
Date: 1995-01-01T00:00:00Z