Novel herpesviruses in riverine and marine cetaceans from South America

• Published in: Acta Tropica
• Main Authors: Sacristán, Carlos, Esperón, Fernando, Ewbank, Ana Carolina, Díaz-Delgado, Josué, Ferreira-Machado, Eduardo, Costa-Silva, Samira, Sánchez-Sarmiento, Angélica María, Groch, Kátia Regina, Neves, Elena, Pereira Dutra, Gustavo Henrique, Gravena, Waleska, Silva, Vera Maria Ferreira da, Marcondes, Milton César Calzavara, Castaldo Colosio, Adriana, Cremer, Marta Jussara, Carvalho, Vítor Luz, O. Meirelles, Ana Carolina, Marigo, Juliana, Catão-Dias, José Luiz
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: Acta Tropica 2019
• Subjects: Beta Actin; Dna Polymerase; Glycoprotein B; Cetacean; Dna; Infectious Disease; Pathology; Polymerase Chain Reaction; Skin Effect; Stranding; Viral Disease; Adult; Animals Tissue; Autopsy; Cetacea; Controlled Study; Delphinus; Dna Extraction; Dyskeratosis; Epidermis Hyperplasia; Female; Herpes Virus Infection; Herpesviridae; Histology; Housekeeping Gene; Male; Maximum Likelihood Method; Mesentery Lymph Node; Microscopy; Molecular Diagnosis; Neutrophil; Nonhuman; Nucleotide Sequence; Oral Mucosal Disease; Panniculitis; Phylogeny; River; Sequence Alignment; Skin Defect; South America; Thrombosis; Animals; Classification; Genetics; Isolation And Purification; Skin; Toothed Whale; Veterinary Medicine; Virology; Bolivia; Brasil; Animalsia; Inia; Kogia Simus; Mammalia; Sotalia Guianensis; Stenella Frontalis; Animal; Dolphins; Herpesviridae Infections; Sperm whale; toothed whale
• Online Access: https://repositorio.inpa.gov.br/handle/1/16746; https://doi.org/10.1016/j.actatropica.2018.11.021

Herpesvirus (HV) infections in cetaceans are frequently associated with skin and mucosal lesions. Although HV infections have been reported worldwide, their occurrence in southern Atlantic marine mammals is still poorly understood. We tested skin, oral and genital mucosal beta-actin PCR-positive samples from 109 free-ranging Brazilian cetaceans using a universal herpesvirus DNA polymerase PCR. Herpesvirus-positive skin samples from a Guiana dolphin (Sotalia guianensis), a dwarf sperm whale (Kogia sima), a Bolivian river dolphin (Inia boliviensis), and a lingual sample from an Atlantic spotted dolphin (Stenella frontalis) were histologically evaluated. Additional tissue samples from these animals were also PCR-positive for HV, including a novel sequence obtained from the dwarf sperm whale's stomach and mesenteric lymph node. Four novel HV species were detected in the Guiana dolphin (one), the dwarf sperm whale (two) and the Bolivian river dolphin (one). The cutaneous lesions (marked, focally extensive, chronic proliferative dermatitis) of the Guiana dolphin and the Bolivian river dolphin were similar to previous HV reports in cetaceans, despite the absence of intranuclear inclusion bodies. This is the largest HV survey in South American cetaceans and the first detection of HV infection in riverine dolphins worldwide. © 2018 Elsevier B.V.