Department of Pathology, National Veterinary Research Institute, Pulawy, 24-100, Poland.
Department of Small Animal Diseases and Clinic, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Warsaw University of Life Sciences, Warsaw, 02-766, Poland.
BMC Vet Res. 2024 May 13;20(1):195. doi: 10.1186/s12917-024-04059-y.
Small ruminant lentiviruses (SRLVs) are widespread and infect goats and sheep. Several reports also suggest that SRLVs can infect wild ruminants. The presence of specific antibodies against SRLVs has been identified in wild ruminants from Poland, but no studies have been conducted to detect proviral DNA of SRLVs in these animals. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to examine samples from Polish wild ruminants to determine whether these animals can serve as reservoirs of SRLVs under natural conditions. A total of 314 samples were tested from red deer (n = 255), roe deer (n = 52) and fallow deer (n = 7) using nested real-time PCR. DNA from positive real-time PCR samples was subsequently used to amplify a CA fragment (625 bp) of the gag gene, a 1.2 kb fragment of the pol gene and an LTR-gag fragment. Three samples (0.95%) were positive according to nested real-time PCR using primers and probe specific for CAEV (SRLV group B). All the samples were negative for the primers and probe specific for MVV (SRLV A group). Only SRLV LTR-gag sequences were obtained from two red deer. Phylogenetic analysis revealed that these sequences were more closely related to CAEV than to MVV. Our results revealed that deer can carry SRLV proviral sequences and therefore may play a role in the epidemiology of SRLVs. To our knowledge, this is the first study describing SRLV sequences from red deer.
小反刍兽瘟病毒（SRLV）广泛存在并感染山羊和绵羊。有报道称，SRLV 也可以感染野生反刍动物。在波兰的野生反刍动物中发现了针对 SRLV 的特异性抗体，但尚未进行研究来检测这些动物中 SRLV 的前病毒 DNA。因此，本研究旨在检测波兰野生反刍动物的样本，以确定这些动物在自然条件下是否可以作为 SRLV 的储主。使用巢式实时 PCR 对 314 份来自马鹿（n = 255）、狍（n = 52）和黇鹿（n = 7）的样本进行了检测。随后，从阳性实时 PCR 样本的 DNA 中扩增 gag 基因的 CA 片段（625 bp）、pol 基因的 1.2 kb 片段和 LTR-gag 片段。根据针对 CAEV（SRLV 组 B）的引物和探针进行的巢式实时 PCR 显示，有 3 个样本（0.95%）呈阳性。针对 MVV（SRLV A 组）的引物和探针均为阴性。仅从两只马鹿中获得了 SRLV LTR-gag 序列。系统进化分析表明，这些序列与 CAEV 比与 MVV 更密切相关。我们的结果表明，鹿可以携带 SRLV 前病毒序列，因此可能在 SRLV 的流行病学中发挥作用。据我们所知，这是首次描述马鹿中存在 SRLV 序列的研究。
