A novel cetacean adenovirus in stranded harbour porpoises from the North Sea: detection and molecular characterization

• Published in: Archives of Virology
• Main Authors: van Beurden, Steven J., Ijsseldijk, Lonneke L., van de Bildt, Marco W. G., Begeman, Lineke, Wellehan, James F. X., Waltzek, Thomas B., de Vrieze, Geert, Gröne, Andrea, Kuiken, Thijs, Verheije, M. Hélène, Penzes, Judit J.
• Other Authors: Universiteit Utrecht / Utrecht University Utrecht, Erasmus University Medical Center Rotterdam (Erasmus MC), University of Florida Gainesville (UF), Armand-Frappier Santé Biotechnologie Research Centre (INRS-AFSB), Institut National de la Recherche Scientifique Québec (INRS)-Réseau International des Instituts Pasteur (RIIP), Harbour porpoise necropsies were funded by the Dutch Ministry of Economic Affairs (Grant Number 140000353)., This report was only possible thanks to the efforts made in finding and securing harbour porpoise carcasses by the volunteers of the Dutch stranding network, including the organizations and institutes involved. We thank Dr. Sal Frasca for histopathologic examination of the North American harbour porpoise.
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: HAL CCSD 2017
• Subjects: [SDV]Life Sciences [q-bio]; [SDV.MP.VIR]Life Sciences [q-bio]/Microbiology and Parasitology/Virology; Harbour porpoise; Phocoena phocoena
• Online Access: https://riip.hal.science/pasteur-01533629; https://doi.org/10.1007/s00705-017-3310-8

International audience Harbour porpoises (Phocoena phocoena) are the most prevalent cetaceans in the North Sea. The fecal viral flora of 21 harbour porpoises stranded along the Dutch coastline was analyzed by a metagenomics approach. Sequences of a novel cetacean mastadenovirus, designated harbour porpoise adenovirus 1 (HpAdV-1), were detected. The sequence of a 23-kbp genomic region, spanning the conserved late region, was determined using primer walking. Phylogenetic analysis indicated that HpAdV-1 is most closely related to bottlenose dolphin adenovirus and clusters with Cetartiodactyla adenoviruses. The prevalence of HpAdV-1 was low (2.6%) based on targeted PCR-screening of the intestinal contents of 151 harbour porpoises stranded between 2010 and 2013.