Laboratory of Wildlife Comparative Pathology, Department of Pathology, School of Veterinary Medicine and Animal Sciences, University of São Paulo, São Paulo, SP, 05508-270, Brazil.
Instituto Nacional de Pesquisas da Amazônia, Manaus, AM, 69067-375, Brazil.
Sci Rep. 2021 Dec 31;11(1):24528. doi: 10.1038/s41598-021-04059-0.
River dolphins are a highly threatened polyphyletic group comprised of four odontocete families: Iniidae, Pontoporiidae, Lipotidae, and Platanistidae, the first two endemic to South America. To address the knowledge gap regarding infectious agents in this cetacean group, we surveyed the presence of herpesviruses by PCR in skin and/or blood samples of live-captured Amazon (Inia geoffrensis, n = 25) and Bolivian (Inia boliviensis, n = 22) river dolphins of the Amazon basin and in selected tissue samples of franciscanas (Pontoporia blainvillei, n = 27) stranded or bycaught in southeastern Brazil. Additionally, available franciscana tissue samples were examined by histopathology. Herpesvirus DNA was amplified in 13 Bolivian river dolphins (59.1%, 95% CI 38.5-79.6%) and 14 franciscanas (51.9%, 95% CI 33.0-70.7%). All Amazon river dolphins were herpesvirus-negative. Two different herpesviruses were found in Bolivian river dolphins: a previously known gammaherpesvirus detected in blood and/or skin samples of all positive individuals and a novel alphaherpesvirus in the skin of one animal. A new gammaherpesvirus was found in several franciscana samples-the first herpesvirus recorded in Pontoporiidae. Intranuclear inclusion bodies consistent with herpesvirus were observed in the lymph node of one franciscana. The high divergence among the obtained herpesviruses and those previously described can be explained by viral-host coevolution, and by the fact that these populations are fairly isolated.
江豚是一个高度濒危的多系群，由四个齿鲸科组成：伊氏海豚科、淡水豚科、一角鲸科和普拉塔斯海豚科，前两个科是南美洲特有的。为了解决该鲸目动物群体中传染性病原体的知识空白，我们通过 PCR 调查了在亚马逊（伊氏真海豚，n = 25）和玻利维亚（玻利维亚伊氏真海豚，n = 22）江豚活体捕获的皮肤和/或血液样本以及在巴西东南部搁浅或误捕的弗朗西丝卡纳（白海豚，n = 27）的选定组织样本中疱疹病毒的存在。此外，还对可用的弗朗西丝卡纳组织样本进行了组织病理学检查。在 13 头玻利维亚江豚（59.1%，95%置信区间 38.5-79.6%）和 14 头白海豚（51.9%，95%置信区间 33.0-70.7%）中扩增出疱疹病毒 DNA。所有亚马逊江豚均为疱疹病毒阴性。在玻利维亚江豚中发现了两种不同的疱疹病毒：一种先前在所有阳性个体的血液和/或皮肤样本中检测到的已知γ疱疹病毒，以及一种在一只动物皮肤中发现的新型α疱疹病毒。在几个白海豚样本中发现了一种新的γ疱疹病毒——这是在 Pontoporiidae 中记录的第一种疱疹病毒。在一只白海豚的淋巴结中观察到与疱疹病毒一致的核内包涵体。获得的疱疹病毒与先前描述的病毒之间的高度差异可以用病毒-宿主共同进化来解释，也可以用这些种群相当孤立的事实来解释。
