Kent Alice, Ehlers Bernhard, Mendum Tom, Newman Chris, Macdonald David W, Chambers Mark, Buesching Christina D
1 Wildlife Conservation Research Unit, Department of Zoology, University of Oxford, The Recanati-Kaplan Centre, Tubney House, Abingdon Road, Tubney, Abingdon OX13 5QL, UK.
2 Division 12 Measles, Mumps, Rubella and Viruses Affecting Immune-Compromised Patients, Robert Koch Institute, Berlin 13353, Germany.
J Wildl Dis. 2018 Jan;54(1):133-137. doi: 10.7589/2016-12-274. Epub 2017 Oct 27.
: Sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) can be important drivers of population dynamics because of their negative effects on reproduction. However, screening for STDs, especially in wildlife populations, is widely neglected. Using the promiscuous, polygynandrous European badger ( Meles meles) as a model, we investigated the presence and prevalence of herpesviruses (HVs) in a wild, high-density population and assessed potential differences in somatic fitness and female reproductive condition between infected and uninfected individuals. We collected n=98 genital swabs from 71 females (51 adults and 20 cubs) and 27 males (26 adults and 1 cub) during spring and summer 2015. Using a PCR specific for a mustelid α-HV, all genital-swab samples tested negative. In a panherpes PCR, a γ-HV was found in 55% (54/98; 39 adults and 15 cubs), identified as mustelid gammaherpesvirus 1 (MusGHV-1) using DNA sequencing. This contrasts with the results of a previous study, which reported MusGHV-1 in 98% (354/361) of blood samples taken from 218 badgers in the same population using PCR. The detection of MusHV-1 in the female reproductive tract strongly indicates the potential for a horizontal and, likely also a vertical, route of transmission. Our results suggest a potential linkage of genital HVs and impaired future reproductive success in females, but because reproductive failure can have many reasons in badgers, the causative link of this negative relationship remains to be investigated.
性传播疾病（STDs）可能是种群动态的重要驱动因素，因为它们对繁殖有负面影响。然而，对性传播疾病的筛查，尤其是在野生动物种群中，却被广泛忽视。我们以滥交、多配偶制的欧洲獾（Meles meles）为模型，调查了野生高密度种群中疱疹病毒（HVs）的存在情况和流行率，并评估了感染个体和未感染个体在身体适应性和雌性繁殖状况方面的潜在差异。2015年春夏期间，我们从71只雌性（51只成年雌獾和20只幼崽）和27只雄性（26只成年雄獾和1只幼崽）身上采集了n = 98份生殖器拭子。使用针对鼬科α疱疹病毒的特异性PCR，所有生殖器拭子样本检测均为阴性。在泛疱疹PCR中，55%（54/98；39只成年獾和15只幼崽）检测到γ疱疹病毒，通过DNA测序鉴定为鼬科γ疱疹病毒1（MusGHV-1）。这与之前一项研究的结果形成对比，该研究使用PCR报告称，在同一种群的218只獾采集的血液样本中，98%（354/361）检测到MusGHV-1。在雌性生殖道中检测到MusHV-1强烈表明存在水平传播途径，并且可能也存在垂直传播途径。我们的结果表明，生殖器疱疹病毒与雌性未来生殖成功率受损之间可能存在联系，但由于獾的繁殖失败可能有多种原因，这种负相关关系的因果联系仍有待研究。
