Identification, molecular and phylogenetic analysis of poxvirus in skin lesions of southern right whale

CARLA FIORITO; GABRIELA PALACIOS; MARCELO GOLEMBA; ANA BRATANICH; MARÍA BELÉN ARGÜELLES; ANA FAZIO; MARCELO BERTELLOTTI; DANIEL LOMBARDO

DISEASES OF AQUATIC ORGANISMS

INTER-RESEARCH

Lugar: Oldendorf/Luhe; Año: 2015

0177-5103

Poxvirus skin disease has been reported in several species of cetaceans, principally in odontocetes, with only a single report in mysticetes. Southern right whale (Eubalaena australis) from Peninsula Valdes show a variety of skin lesions of unknown etiology and the number of these lesions has increased in the last years. Samples from dead whales were taken in order to establish the etiology of these lesions. One calf and one adult presented "ring? type lesions, characterized by a circumscribed and slightly raised area of skin. Lesions were histologically characterized by the presence of microvesicles and vacuolated cells in the stratum spinosum, along with hyperplasia of the stratum corneum and eosinophilic inclusion bodies in the cytoplasm of the epithelial cells. Transmission electron microscopy showed aggregations of virions with typical poxvirus morphology. Polymerase chain reaction for cetacean poxvirus (CPV) DNA polymerase, DNA topoisomerase I and parapoxvirus DNA polymerase gene fragments were made, confirming the presence of poxvirus in one sample. The phylogenetic analysis showed that the detected poxvirus belongs to the CPV-2 group. This is the first confirmed report of poxvirus in southern right whales in Argentina.