Abstract
Rodent gammaherpesviruses have become important models for understanding human herpesvirus diseases. In particular, interactions between murid herpesvirus 4 and Mus musculus (a non-natural host species) have been extensively studied under controlled laboratory conditions. However, several fundamental aspects of murine gammaherpesvirus biology are not well understood, including how these viruses are transmitted from host to host, and their impacts on host fitness under natural conditions. Here, we investigate the epidemiology of a gammaherpesvirus in free-living wood mice (Apodemus sylvaticus) and bank voles (Myodes glareolus) in a 2-year longitudinal study. Wood mouse herpesvirus (WMHV) was the only herpesvirus detected and occurred frequently in wood mice and also less commonly in bank voles. Strikingly, WMHV infection probability was highest in reproductively active, heavy male mice. Infection risk also showed a repeatable seasonal pattern, peaking in spring and declining through the summer. We show that this seasonal decline can be at least partly attributed to reduced recapture of WMHV-infected adults. These results suggest that male reproductive behaviours could provide an important natural route of transmission for these viruses. They also suggest that gammaherpesvirus infection may have significant detrimental effects in wild hosts, questioning the view that these viruses have limited impacts in natural, co-evolved host species.
Highlights
Gammaherpesviruses are a widespread group of DNA viruses that form characteristically persistent infections in a range of mammal species (Davison, 2002)
Serological surveys of wild rodents in the UK have reported that MuHV-4, the major laboratory model of murine gammaherpesvirus infection, is prevalent in wild wood mice and bank voles (Blasdell et al, 2003; Telfer et al, 2007)
MuHV-4 has been detected in wood mice from continental Europe (Ehlers et al, 2007), taking together all three studies reporting sequence data on gammaherpesviruses from wood mice to date, Wood mouse herpesvirus (WMHV) is the most common gammaherpesvirus in this host species
Summary
Gammaherpesviruses are a widespread group of DNA viruses that form characteristically persistent infections in a range of mammal species (Davison, 2002). Since human gammaherpesviruses are largely host specific, murine gammaherpesviruses have become important models for studying fundamental aspects of virus–host interactions. The pathogenesis and immune interactions of murid herpesvirus 4 (MuHV-4, of which MHV-68 is the archetypal strain) have been well-studied in inbred laboratory mice (Sunil-Chandra et al, 1992; Simas & Efstathiou, 1998). The natural route of transmission is not well understood. Experimental inoculations of MuHV-4 are generally performed intranasally. Since the intranasal route is the most infectious, the nasal mucosa is considered the most likely natural point of viral entry (Milho et al, 2009). Five supplementary tables, three supplementary figures and supplementary information are available with the online version of this paper
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