MONK SEAL MORTALITY - VIRUS OR TOXIN

During the past few months, more than half of the total population of about 300 highly endangered Mediterranean monk seals (Monachus monachu s) on the western Saharan coast of Africa, died in a mysterious diseas e outbreak(1). Epizootiological and postmortem findings were reminisce nt of similar outbreaks amongst pinniped and cetacean species in recen t years, which were caused by an infection with newly discovered morbi lliviruses (for review see Osterhaus et al.(2)). Virological, as well as toxicological, analysis performed on tissue samples collected from relatively fresh carcasses during the outbreak indicate that infection with a virus closely related to dolphin morbillivirus (DMV), possibly originating from affected dolphins in the same ar en, was the primary cause of the outbreak. Therefore it is concluded that vaccination wit h a safe and effective non-replicating vaccine should be considered as a management tool in thc conservation of Mediterranean monk seals, (C ) 1998 Elsevier Science Ltd, All rights reserved.