A Comparison of Parapoxviruses in North American Pinnipeds

^{Department of Arctic and Marine Biology, UiT The Arctic University of Norway, Tromsø, Norway}

^{Faculty of Veterinary Medicine of University of Lisbon, Lisbon, Portugal}

^{Faculty of Health and Social Sciences, University of South-Eastern Norway, Notodden, Norway}

^{Pacific Marine Mammal Center, Laguna Beach, CA, United States}

^{Ocean Animal Response and Research Alliance, Dana Point, CA, United States}

^{National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Greater Atlantic Regional Fisheries Office, Gloucester, MA, United States}

^{The Marine Mammal Center, Sausalito, CA, United States}

^{SeaWorld Parks and Entertainment, San Diego, CA, United States}

^{One Health Institute and Karen C. Drayer Wildlife Health Center, University of California, Davis, Davis, CA, United States}

Edited by: Maureen T. Long, University of Florida, United States

Reviewed by: Santhamani Ramasamy, Public Health Research Institute (PHRI), United States; François JMA Meurens, INRA Ecole Nationale Vétérinaire, Agroalimentaire et de l'alimentation de Nantes-Atlantique (Oniris), France

*Correspondence: Morten Tryland on.tiu@dnalyrt.netrom

This article was submitted to Veterinary Infectious Diseases, a section of the journal Frontiers in Veterinary Science

†These authors share senior authorship

Edited by: Maureen T. Long, University of Florida, United States

Received 2021 Jan 13; Accepted 2021 Apr 20.

This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) and the copyright owner(s) are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

Abstract

Parapoxviruses cause nodular lesions on the skin and mucosal membranes of pinnipeds and infections by these viruses have been documented worldwide. Seal parapoxvirus is currently classified as a tentative species of the Parapoxvirus genus. Tissue or swab samples were analyzed from 11 pinnipeds of different host species undergoing rehabilitation on the east and west coasts of the United States of America (USA) that were positive for parapoxvirus. The aim of the study was to compare parapoxvirus sequences of fragments of the B2L, DNA polymerase, GIF and viral interleukin-10 ortholog (vIL-10) genes and to examine the evolutionary relationship between viruses detected in different pinniped species and at different locations with other members of the Parapoxvirus genus, such as Orf virus (ORFV), Bovine papular stomatitis virus (BPSV) and Pseudocowpox virus (PCPV). The sequence analysis showed that the parapoxvirus sequences from the pinnipeds differed significantly from those found in terrestrial hosts and that they formed a separate cluster within the genus. Our results suggest that transmission of the same parapoxvirus strain is possible between different species, including between members of different families (phocids and otariids). Animals belonging to the same species but living in distant geographic locations presented genetically distant parapoxviruses. The findings of this study demonstrate that sealpox lesions in pinnipeds of different species are caused by viruses that belong to the Parapoxvirus genus but have significant genetic differences compared to the established virus species in terrestrial hosts, thus strongly supporting the classification of pinniped parapoxvirus as a new species of the genus.

Keywords: parapoxvirus, seal parapoxvirus, pinniped, skin lesion, sealpox

Abstract

Acknowledgments

We would like to thank: SeaWorld Parks and Entertainment's contribution (Technical Contribution number 2020-26); Prof. Dr. Ana Duarte from FMV-ULisboa; the animal care and laboratory staff and the volunteers at TMMC and especially acknowledge B. Halaska for shipping samples.

Acknowledgments

Footnotes

Funding. The publication charges for this article have been funded by an open access grant from the publication fund of UiT The Arctic University of Norway. The work was supported in part by NOAA Fisheries Service through a John H. Prescott Marine Mammal Rescue Assistance Grant to the One Health Institute and Karen C. Drayer Wildlife Health Center, UC Davis, Davis.

Footnotes

Click here for additional data file.^{(656K, DOCX)}Click here for additional data file.^{(654K, DOCX)}

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