Molecular Investigation of Wildlife Herpesvirus and Parapoxvirus: Benefits and Limitations of Genetic Characterization of dsDNA Viruses from Tissues

• Main Author: Dalton, Chimoné Stefni
• Other Authors: van der Meer, Frank, Abdul-Careem, Mohamed Faizal, Kutz, Susan J., Ruckstuhl, Kathreen E.
• Format: Doctoral or Postdoctoral Thesis
• Language: English
• Published: Veterinary Medicine 2019
• Subjects: Herpesvirus; Orf virus; Virology; Molecular surveillance; Genome; PCR; Muskox; Caribou; Marten; Forestry and Wildlife; Epidemiology; Physics > Molecular; Canada; Northwest Territories; Nunavut; caribou; muskox; Victoria Island; victoria island
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/1880/111363; https://doi.org/10.11575/PRISM/37354

Wildlife populations can be reservoirs or victims of pathogens shared with humans and/or domestic animals. Most diseases at the wildlife-livestock interface are caused by viruses. Herpesviridae and Parapoxviridae are families of important double-stranded DNA (dsDNA) viruses that have been implicated in diseases of wildlife, domestic animals, and humans resulting from spill-over or zoonotic transmission, yet still little is known about viruses circulating in wildlife. Wildlife health surveillance is a primary tool for the management of zoonotic diseases, the control of diseases of domestic animals, and the preservation of wildlife populations. Studies herein conduct molecular surveillance of herpesviruses (HV) and orf virus (a parapoxvirus) through diagnostic polymerase-chain reactions (PCR), sequencing, and phylogenetic analysis using tissues of various wildlife animal species in Canada. The viral DNA polymerase (DPOL) gene is an effective target for the detection and characterization of HV present in infected animals. Previously uncharacterized HV were characterized in marten across Canada, and Reindeer gamma-HV 1 was characterized in caribou from different herds. Phylogenetic analysis suggests HV have coevolved with their wildlife host at a species level. Detection of orf virus was most successful when targeting the viral immunodominant envelope protein gene: B2L. Orf virus was detected in muskoxen on Victoria Island in areas managed by the Northwest Territories (NT) and Nunavut (NU), and on the adjacent mainland of NU, Canada. Orf virus was present in males and females, from calf to adulthood, indicating this virus represents a disease threat for muskoxen. Next-generation sequencing was performed directly on the DNA extracted from tissues of four clinically infected, geographically distant muskoxen in our study area. Phylogenetic analysis revealed Muskox orf virus (MxOV), to be unique from known orf viruses. This thesis documents the diversity of HV circulating in wildlife, increases our awareness of ...