Athens Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory, Department of Infectious Diseases, University of Georgia, 501 D. W. Brooks Drive, Athens, Georgia 30602, USA.
North Slope Department of Wildlife Management, 1274 Agvik Street, Utqiaġvik, Alaska 99723, USA.
J Wildl Dis. 2021 Jul 1;57(3):652-656. doi: 10.7589/JWD-D-20-00151.
Adenoviruses are common pathogens infecting a wide range of vertebrates. Few cetacean adenoviruses have been described in the literature, and their pathogenicity is still unclear. Using PCR-based viral and bacterial pathogen surveillance in Bering-Chukchi-Beaufort seas bowhead whales (Balaena mysticetus) legally harvested 2012-15 during Alaskan aboriginal subsistence hunts, six of 59 bowhead whales (10%) tested positive for adenovirus DNA in the spleen. We found a high degree of sequence divergence from other mastadenoviruses, suggesting these may represent a novel species, tentatively named bowhead whale adenovirus. The sequences detected are distinct from adenoviruses previously identified in bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops truncatus) and harbor porpoises (Phocoena phocoena), forming two distinct clades in the cetacean hosts. The clinical impact is unclear, since no histopathologic evidence of adenovirus-associated disease was found. Furthermore, detection of adenovirus DNA in the spleen, contrary to other cetacean adenoviruses detected in the intestinal tract, may suggest a broader tissue tropism. Our study demonstrates adenovirus infection in bowhead whales and the usefulness of molecular diagnostics to discover and genetically characterize novel viruses in marine mammals.
腺病毒是常见的病原体，可感染广泛的脊椎动物。文献中已描述了少数几种鲸类腺病毒，但它们的致病性仍不清楚。在阿拉斯加原住民的狩猎活动中，对 2012 年至 2015 年合法捕获的白鲸（Balaena mysticetus）的贝尔彻-楚科奇-波弗特海域进行了基于 PCR 的病毒和细菌病原体监测，在 59 头白鲸中有 6 头（10%）的脾脏中检测到腺病毒 DNA 呈阳性。我们发现这些病毒与其他巨细胞病毒的序列差异很大，表明这些病毒可能代表一个新的物种，暂命名为白鲸腺病毒。检测到的序列与先前在宽吻海豚（Tursiops truncatus）和港湾鼠海豚（Phocoena phocoena）中鉴定的腺病毒不同，在鲸目动物宿主中形成了两个不同的分支。由于未发现与腺病毒相关疾病的组织病理学证据，因此其临床影响尚不清楚。此外，与在肠道中检测到的其他鲸类腺病毒不同，腺病毒 DNA 在脾脏中的检测表明其可能具有更广泛的组织嗜性。本研究表明，腺病毒感染了白鲸，并且分子诊断在发现和遗传特征鉴定海洋哺乳动物中的新型病毒方面具有重要作用。
