Animal Health Department, Faculty of Veterinary Sciences, University of Extremadura, Avda. de la Universidad, s/n, 10003, Cáceres, Spain.
SALUVET Group, Animal Health Department, Faculty of Veterinary Sciences, Complutense University of Madrid, Avda. Puerta de Hierro s/n, 28040, Madrid, Spain.
J Wildl Dis. 2021 Apr 1;57(2):423-428. doi: 10.7589/JWD-D-20-00116.
Myxoma virus (MYXV) causes morbidity and mortality in European wild rabbits (Oryctolagus cuniculus) worldwide, and recently in Iberian hares (Lepus granatensis) in Spain. We aimed to assess the presence of MYXV-specific DNA in ixodid ticks collected from both hosts. A total of 417 ticks harvested from 30 wild lagomorphs, including wild rabbits and Iberian hares were collected from southern Spain. Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay and PCR-sequencing were used to detect virus exposure and presence, respectively. Antibodies to MYXV were detected in 68% (17/25) of wild rabbits and in 67% (2/3) of Iberian hares. We detected MYXV DNA in 50.7% of pools of two different tick species (nymphs and adults of Rhipicephalus pusillus, and nymphs of Hyalomma lusitanicum) parasitizing rabbits and hares. The obtained partial sequence of the viral major envelope protein gene showed a mutation (G383A) within the MYXV_gp026 locus between the rabbit strain and Iberian hare strain (recently isolated in tissues of infected hares from Spain). However, in our study, the viral DNA presence was detected for the first time using tick DNA as the PCR-template, but the possible role of ticks as vectors of MYXV still needs to be elucidated.
黏液瘤病毒 (MYXV) 会导致世界各地的欧洲野兔（Oryctolagus cuniculus）和最近在西班牙的伊比利亚兔（Lepus granatensis）发病和死亡。我们旨在评估从这两种宿主中采集的蜱虫是否存在 MYXV 特异性 DNA。从西班牙南部共采集了 30 只野生兔形目动物（包括野兔和伊比利亚兔）身上的 417 只蜱虫。使用酶联免疫吸附测定法和 PCR 测序分别检测病毒暴露和存在情况。针对 MYXV 的抗体在 68%（17/25）的野兔和 67%（2/3）的伊比利亚兔中被检测到。我们在寄生野兔和伊比利亚兔的两种不同蜱虫（幼蜱和成年蜱的 Rhipicephalus pusillus，以及 Hyalomma lusitanicum 的幼蜱）的 50.7%的样本中检测到了 MYXV DNA。从感染野兔的组织中分离出的、最近分离出的兔株和伊比利亚兔株之间的 MYXV_gp026 基因内，病毒主要包膜蛋白基因的部分序列显示出一个突变（G383A）。然而，在我们的研究中，首次使用蜱虫 DNA 作为 PCR 模板检测到了病毒 DNA 的存在，但蜱虫作为 MYXV 传播媒介的可能性仍需进一步阐明。
