Evidence of alphaherpesvirus infections in Alaskan caribou and reindeer
Background: The reindeer (Rangifer tarandus tarandus) industry in Alaska began with animals imported from Siberia (Russia) in the 1890’s. Cervid herpes virus 2 (CvHV2) is endemic in reindeer in Scandinavia. We sought to determine if the same virus, or similar herpesviruses, were circulating in Alask...
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fthshedmarkcom:oai:brage.bibsys.no:11250/134442 2023-05-15T15:14:53+02:00 Evidence of alphaherpesvirus infections in Alaskan caribou and reindeer Evans, Alina L. Neves, Garlos G. das Finstad, Greg Beckmen, Kimberlee B. Skjerve, Eystein Nymo, Ingebjørg H. Tryland, Morten 2012 http://hdl.handle.net/11250/134442 https://doi.org/10.1186/1746-6148-8-5 eng eng BioMed Central 1-8 8 BMC Veterinary Research 5 caribou epidemiology herd health herpesvirus infectious diseases reindeer Rangifer wildlife medicine Journal article Peer reviewed 2012 fthshedmarkcom https://doi.org/10.1186/1746-6148-8-5 2017-10-27T17:31:09Z Background: The reindeer (Rangifer tarandus tarandus) industry in Alaska began with animals imported from Siberia (Russia) in the 1890’s. Cervid herpes virus 2 (CvHV2) is endemic in reindeer in Scandinavia. We sought to determine if the same virus, or similar herpesviruses, were circulating in Alaskan reindeer and caribou (Rangifer tarandus granti). Serum samples from 292 reindeer were collected during annual reindeer handlings (1988-2005) near Nome, Alaska. In 2005, swab samples were collected from 40 calves from this herd, near Nome, Alaska. In 2007, ocular and nasal swab samples were collected from 30 apparently healthy reindeer calves near Wales, Alaska. Samples of plasma and white blood cells were collected from three Alaskan caribou herds, Mulchatna (n = 24), Teshekpuk (n = 34) and the Western Arctic (n = 87) in 2009. Results: Of 292 reindeer samples tested by ELISA for antibodies against alphaherpesvirus (bovine herpesvirus 1 as antigen), seroprevalence was 47% (136/292) and adult reindeer had higher seroprevalence than yearlings. The overall seroprevalence for caribou was 60% (87/145), with no significant differences among caribou herds. A virus neutralization test of 20 samples from both reindeer and caribou showed that ELISA positive samples always neutralized CvHV2 to a greater extent than BoHV1 or elk herpesvirus (ElkHV), indicating that CvHv2 is the most likely virus circulating. PCR of nasal and ocular swabs sampled from 30 reindeer calves in Wales, Alaska (2007) yielded four CvHV2 positive samples. PCR amplicons of the expected size (294 bp) were obtained from 2 of the 36 buffy coats samples from caribou, and the amplicon sequences were consistent with CvHV2. Conclusions: This study shows that Alaskan reindeer and Caribou are infected with an alphaherpesvirus. Based on sequence similarity, CvHV-2 is the most likely virus. Further studies should be conducted to determine the impact of this infection on the health of these animals. Article in Journal/Newspaper Arctic elk Nome Rangifer tarandus Alaska Siberia Inland Norway University of Applied Sciences: Brage INN Arctic BMC Veterinary Research 8 1 5 |
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Open Polar |
collection |
Inland Norway University of Applied Sciences: Brage INN |
op_collection_id |
fthshedmarkcom |
language |
English |
topic |
caribou epidemiology herd health herpesvirus infectious diseases reindeer Rangifer wildlife medicine |
spellingShingle |
caribou epidemiology herd health herpesvirus infectious diseases reindeer Rangifer wildlife medicine Evans, Alina L. Neves, Garlos G. das Finstad, Greg Beckmen, Kimberlee B. Skjerve, Eystein Nymo, Ingebjørg H. Tryland, Morten Evidence of alphaherpesvirus infections in Alaskan caribou and reindeer |
topic_facet |
caribou epidemiology herd health herpesvirus infectious diseases reindeer Rangifer wildlife medicine |
description |
Background: The reindeer (Rangifer tarandus tarandus) industry in Alaska began with animals imported from Siberia (Russia) in the 1890’s. Cervid herpes virus 2 (CvHV2) is endemic in reindeer in Scandinavia. We sought to determine if the same virus, or similar herpesviruses, were circulating in Alaskan reindeer and caribou (Rangifer tarandus granti). Serum samples from 292 reindeer were collected during annual reindeer handlings (1988-2005) near Nome, Alaska. In 2005, swab samples were collected from 40 calves from this herd, near Nome, Alaska. In 2007, ocular and nasal swab samples were collected from 30 apparently healthy reindeer calves near Wales, Alaska. Samples of plasma and white blood cells were collected from three Alaskan caribou herds, Mulchatna (n = 24), Teshekpuk (n = 34) and the Western Arctic (n = 87) in 2009. Results: Of 292 reindeer samples tested by ELISA for antibodies against alphaherpesvirus (bovine herpesvirus 1 as antigen), seroprevalence was 47% (136/292) and adult reindeer had higher seroprevalence than yearlings. The overall seroprevalence for caribou was 60% (87/145), with no significant differences among caribou herds. A virus neutralization test of 20 samples from both reindeer and caribou showed that ELISA positive samples always neutralized CvHV2 to a greater extent than BoHV1 or elk herpesvirus (ElkHV), indicating that CvHv2 is the most likely virus circulating. PCR of nasal and ocular swabs sampled from 30 reindeer calves in Wales, Alaska (2007) yielded four CvHV2 positive samples. PCR amplicons of the expected size (294 bp) were obtained from 2 of the 36 buffy coats samples from caribou, and the amplicon sequences were consistent with CvHV2. Conclusions: This study shows that Alaskan reindeer and Caribou are infected with an alphaherpesvirus. Based on sequence similarity, CvHV-2 is the most likely virus. Further studies should be conducted to determine the impact of this infection on the health of these animals. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Evans, Alina L. Neves, Garlos G. das Finstad, Greg Beckmen, Kimberlee B. Skjerve, Eystein Nymo, Ingebjørg H. Tryland, Morten |
author_facet |
Evans, Alina L. Neves, Garlos G. das Finstad, Greg Beckmen, Kimberlee B. Skjerve, Eystein Nymo, Ingebjørg H. Tryland, Morten |
author_sort |
Evans, Alina L. |
title |
Evidence of alphaherpesvirus infections in Alaskan caribou and reindeer |
title_short |
Evidence of alphaherpesvirus infections in Alaskan caribou and reindeer |
title_full |
Evidence of alphaherpesvirus infections in Alaskan caribou and reindeer |
title_fullStr |
Evidence of alphaherpesvirus infections in Alaskan caribou and reindeer |
title_full_unstemmed |
Evidence of alphaherpesvirus infections in Alaskan caribou and reindeer |
title_sort |
evidence of alphaherpesvirus infections in alaskan caribou and reindeer |
publisher |
BioMed Central |
publishDate |
2012 |
url |
http://hdl.handle.net/11250/134442 https://doi.org/10.1186/1746-6148-8-5 |
geographic |
Arctic |
geographic_facet |
Arctic |
genre |
Arctic elk Nome Rangifer tarandus Alaska Siberia |
genre_facet |
Arctic elk Nome Rangifer tarandus Alaska Siberia |
op_source |
1-8 8 BMC Veterinary Research 5 |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1186/1746-6148-8-5 |
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BMC Veterinary Research |
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8 |
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1 |
container_start_page |
5 |
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