Winzeler Megan E, Hamilton Matthew T, Tuberville Tracey D, Lance Stacey L
Savannah River Ecology Lab, University of Georgia, Drawer E, Aiken, SC 29802, USA.
Dis Aquat Organ. 2015 May 11;114(1):77-81. doi: 10.3354/dao02849.
Ranaviruses are double-stranded DNA viruses that infect amphibians, fish, and reptiles, causing global epidemics in some amphibian populations. It is important to identify new species that may be susceptible to the disease, particularly if they reside in the same habitat as other at-risk species. On the Savannah River Site (SRS) in Aiken, South Carolina, USA, ranaviruses are present in several amphibian populations, but information is lacking on the presence, prevalence, and morbidity of the virus in reptile species. An eastern mud turtle Kinosternon subrubrum captured on the SRS in April 2014 exhibited clinical signs of a ranaviral infection, including oral plaque and conjunctivitis. Quantitative PCR analyses of DNA from liver tissue, ocular, oral, nasal, and cloacal swabs were all positive for ranavirus, and sequencing of the template confirmed infection with a FV3-like ranavirus. Histopathologic examination of postmortem tissue samples revealed ulceration of the oral and tracheal mucosa, intracytoplasmic epithelial inclusions in the oral mucosa and tongue sections, individualized and clusters of melanomacrophages in the liver, and bacterial rods located in the liver, kidney, heart, stomach, and small intestine. This is the first report of morbidity and mortality of a mud turtle with a systemic ranaviral infection.
蛙病毒是双链DNA病毒，可感染两栖动物、鱼类和爬行动物，在一些两栖动物种群中引发全球疫情。识别可能易感染该疾病的新物种很重要，特别是当它们与其他濒危物种栖息在同一栖息地时。在美国南卡罗来纳州艾肯的萨凡纳河场地（SRS），几种两栖动物种群中存在蛙病毒，但关于爬行动物种中该病毒的存在、流行率和发病率的信息却很缺乏。2014年4月在SRS捕获的一只东部泥龟（Kinosternon subrubrum）表现出蛙病毒感染的临床症状，包括口腔斑块和结膜炎。对肝脏组织、眼部、口腔、鼻腔和泄殖腔拭子的DNA进行的定量PCR分析，蛙病毒检测均呈阳性，模板测序证实感染了一种FV3样蛙病毒。对死后组织样本的组织病理学检查显示，口腔和气管黏膜溃疡，口腔黏膜和舌切片中有胞质内上皮包涵体，肝脏中有单个和成群的黑素巨噬细胞，以及在肝脏、肾脏、心脏、胃和小肠中发现的杆菌。这是关于一只泥龟发生全身性蛙病毒感染导致发病和死亡的首次报告。
