Person:
Vargas Castro, Ignacio

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First Name
Ignacio
Last Name
Vargas Castro
URI
https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.14352/85793
Affiliation
Universidad Complutense de Madrid
Faculty / Institute
Veterinaria
Department
Sanidad Animal
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2020 - 20212
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Author: Sánchez-Vizcaíno Rodríguez, José Manuel × Subject: 61 ×

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    Systematic Determination of Herpesvirus in Free-Ranging Cetaceans Stranded in the Western Mediterranean: Tissue Tropism and Associated Lesions
    (Viruses, 2021) Vargas Castro, Ignacio; Melero, Mar; Crespo-Picazo, José Luis; Jiménez Martínez, María De Los Ángeles; Sierra, Eva; Rubio-Guerri, Consuelo; Arbelo, Manuel; Fernández, Antonio; García-Párraga, Daniel; Sánchez-Vizcaíno Rodríguez, José Manuel
    The monitoring of herpesvirus infection provides useful information when assessing marine mammals’ health. This paper shows the prevalence of herpesvirus infection (80.85%) in 47 cetaceans stranded on the coast of the Valencian Community, Spain. Of the 966 tissues evaluated, 121 tested positive when employing nested-PCR (12.53%). The largest proportion of herpesvirus-positive tissue samples was in the reproductive system, nervous system, and tegument. Herpesvirus was more prevalent in females, juveniles, and calves. More than half the DNA PCR positive tissues contained herpesvirus RNA, indicating the presence of actively replicating virus. This RNA was most frequently found in neonates. Fourteen unique sequences were identified. Most amplified sequences belonged to the Gammaherpesvirinae subfamily, but a greater variation was found in Alphaherpesvirinae sequences. This is the first report of systematic herpesvirus DNA and RNA determination in free-ranging cetaceans. Nine (19.14%) were infected with cetacean morbillivirus and all of them (100%) were coinfected with herpesvirus. Lesions similar to those caused by herpesvirus in other species were observed, mainly in the skin, upper digestive tract, genitalia, and central nervous system. Other lesions were also attributable to concomitant etiologies or were nonspecific. It is necessary to investigate the possible role of herpesvirus infection in those cases.
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    Alpha- and gammaherpesviruses in stranded striped dolphins (Stenella coeruleoalba) from Spain: first molecular detection of gammaherpesvirus infection in central nervous system of odontocetes
    (BMC Veterinary Research, 2020) Vargas Castro, Ignacio; Crespo-Picazo, José Luis; Rivera Arroyo, Belén; Sánchez García, Rocío; Marco-Cabedo, Vicente; Jiménez Martínez, María De Los Ángeles; Fayos, Manena; Serdio, Ángel; García-Párraga, Daniel; Sánchez-Vizcaíno Rodríguez, José Manuel
    Background: Herpesvirus infections in cetaceans have always been attributed to the Alphaherpesvirinae and Gammaherpesvirinae subfamilies. To date, gammaherpesviruses have not been reported in the central nervous system of odontocetes. Case presentation: A mass stranding of 14 striped dolphins (Stenella coeruleoalba) occurred in Cantabria (Spain) on 18th May 2019. Tissue samples were collected and tested for herpesvirus using nested polymerase chain reaction (PCR), and for cetacean morbillivirus using reverse transcription-PCR. Cetacean morbillivirus was not detected in any of the animals, while gammaherpesvirus was detected in nine male and one female dolphins. Three of these males were coinfected by alphaherpesviruses. Alphaherpesvirus sequences were detected in the cerebrum, spinal cord and tracheobronchial lymph node, while gammaherpesvirus sequences were detected in the cerebrum, cerebellum, spinal cord, pharyngeal tonsils, mesenteric lymph node, tracheobronchial lymph node, lung, skin and penile mucosa. Macroscopic and histopathological post-mortem examinations did not unveil the potential cause of the mass stranding event or any evidence of severe infectious disease in the dolphins. The only observed lesions that may be associated with herpesvirus were three cases of balanitis and one penile papilloma. Conclusions: To the authors' knowledge, this is the first report of gammaherpesvirus infection in the central nervous system of odontocete cetaceans. This raises new questions for future studies about how gammaherpesviruses reach the central nervous system and how infection manifests clinically.