Non-purulent meningoencephalomyelitis of a Pacific striped dolphin (Lagenorhynchus obliquidens). The first evidence of morbillivirus infection in a dolphin at the Pacific Ocean around Japan

On March 22, 1998, a mature, male, hyposthenic Pacific striped dolphin (Lag enorhynchus obliquidens) was stranded at Aoshima Beach in Miyazaki prefectu re, Japan. A necropsy performed 14 hr after death revealed mild diffuse con gestion and edema of the leptomeninges and mild pulmonary atelectasis. Hist opathologically, non-purulent inflammatory were observed throughout the cer ebrum, thalamus, midbrain, pens, medulla oblongata, and spinal cord. Hemato xylin and eosin stain revealed no viral inclusion bodies. Immunohistochemis try using a monoclonal antibody against nucleoprotein of canine distemper v irus (CDV-NP) revealed a number of CDV-NP-positive granular deposits in the cytoplasm and cell processes of the degenerating or intact neurons. The pr esent paper is a first report of spontaneously occurred morbillivirus infec tion in a dolphin at the Pacific Ocean around Japan.