RT Journal Article
T1 Alpha- and gammaherpesviruses in stranded striped dolphins (Stenella coeruleoalba) from Spain: first molecular detection of gammaherpesvirus infection in central nervous system of odontocetes
A1 Vargas Castro, Ignacio
A1 Crespo-Picazo, José Luis
A1 Rivera Arroyo, Belén
A1 Sánchez García, Rocío
A1 Marco-Cabedo, Vicente
A1 Jiménez Martínez, María de los Ángeles
A1 Fayos, Manena
A1 Serdio, Ángel
A1 García-Párraga, Daniel
A1 Sánchez-Vizcaíno Rodríguez, José Manuel
AB 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.
PB Springer Nature
SN 1746-6148
YR 2020
FD 2020
LK https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.14352/95697
UL https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.14352/95697
LA eng
NO Vargas-Castro, I., Crespo-Picazo, J. L., Rivera-Arroyo, B., Sánchez, R., Marco-Cabedo, V., Jiménez-Martínez, M. Á., Fayos, M., Serdio, Á., García-Párraga, D., & Sánchez-Vizcaíno, J. M. (2020). 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, 16(1), 288. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12917-020-02511-3
NO Authors' contributionsIVC, VMC, and MF performed the necropsies and collected samples. IVC, BRA, and RS performed molecular analysis. MAJM performed the histopathology analysis. IVC performed the phylogenetic analysis. AS, DGP, and JMSV coordinated and reviewed data collection and analysis. IVC drafted the manuscript, which AS, JLCP, BRA, VMC, MAJM, MF, DGP, and JMSV revised. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.Availability of data and materialsDNA sequences have been deposited in GenBank (accession numbers:MN698989-MN699009 and MT770740-MT770752).
NO Oceanografic Foundation (Valencia),
NO Ministerio de Agricultura, Pesca y alimentación (España)
NO Gobierno de Cantabria
NO Universidad Complutense de Madrid
DS Docta Complutense
RD 18 abr 2025