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Abstract
Poxvirus infections in marine mammals have been mainly reported through their clinical lesions and electron microscopy (EM). Poxvirus particles in association with such lesions have been demonstrated by EM and were previously classified as two new viruses, cetacean poxvirus 1 (CePV-1) and cetacean poxvirus 2 (CePV-2). In this study, epidermal pox lesions in cetaceans stranded in South West England (Cornwall) between 2008 and 2012 were investigated by electron microscopy and molecular analysis. PCR and sequencing of a highly conserved region within the viral DNA polymerase gene ruled out both parapox- and orthopoxviruses. Moreover, phylogenetic analysis of the PCR product clustered the sequences with those previously described as cetacean poxviruses. However, taking the close genetic distance of this gene fragment across the family of poxviridae into account, it is reasonable to postulate further, novel cetacean poxvirus species. The nucleotide similarity within each cluster (tentative species) detected ranged from 98.6% to 100%, whilst the similarity between the clusters was no more than 95%. The detection of several species of poxvirus in different cetacean species confirms the likelihood of a heterogeneous cetacean poxvirus genus, comparable to the heterogeneity observed in other poxvirus genera.
Highlights
Poxvirus infections in marine mammals have mainly been reported through their clinical lesions and electron microscopy (EM)
Poxvirus particles in association with such lesions have been demonstrated by EM [7, 8, 9, 10] and initially characterised via polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and sequencing by Bracht et al [11], who suggested two new viruses, cetacean poxvirus 1 (CePV-1) and cetacean poxvirus 2 (CePV-2)
The current study describes the detection and characterisation of poxviruses and lesions induced in cetaceans stranded on the coast of Cornwall, south west England between 2008 and 2012
Summary
Poxvirus infections in marine mammals have mainly been reported through their clinical lesions and EM. That study included 92 cetaceans of various species, mainly sampled in stranding programmes in Florida and Alaska between 2000 and 2004. Molecular characterisation was primarily based on a PCR amplification of the viral DNA polymerase gene (homologues of VVE9L, LSDV039, SPV036) resulting in a 546kb fragment in 10 samples from five cetacean (four dolphin and one whale) species [11, 12].
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