Marine Mammal Health: Development of Immunodiagnostic and Viral Diagnostic Methodologies and Reagents

Abstract : Reagents and methods/procedures were developed to permit evaluation of general humoral immune status and immune status relative to specific pathogens in cetaceans marine mammals. Immunoglobulin isotypes IgG1, IgG2, IgA, and IgM were purified and poly- or monoclonal antibodies specific for these isotypes were developed. ELISA assays for - immunodiagnosis of past exposure to Erysipelothrix rhusiopathiae, a bacterial pathogen of cetaceans, were developed. Tissue culture lines from three species of cetaceans were established and evaluated for virus susceptibility and culture characteristics.