Amdoparvovirus Infection in Red Pandas (Ailurus fulgens)

Abstract

Aleutian mink disease virus is the type species in the genus Amdoparvovirus, and in mink and other Mustelidae can cause either subclinical disease or fatal chronic immune stimulation and immune complex disease. The authors describe a novel amdoparvovirus in the endangered red panda ( Ailurus fulgens), discovered using viral metagenomics. The authors analyzed the prevalence, tissue distribution, and disease association by PCR, in situ hybridization, electron microscopy, and histology in a group of 6 red pandas from a single zoological collection. The study incorporates a fecal shedding survey and analysis of tissues from 4 necropsied animals over a 12-year span. The tentatively named red panda amdoparvovirus (RpAPV) was detected in the feces and/or tissues of all animals tested. At necropsy of 1 geriatric animal, infection was associated with pyogranulomatous peritonitis, pancreatitis, and myocarditis. Other animals had detectable low-level viral nucleic acid in lymph nodes and both oral and intestinal epithelium at the time of necropsy. Full-length genome sequences of RpAPV strains from 2 animals had 12% sequence divergence, demonstrating genetic diversity even among in-contact animals. RpAPV is a persistent infection in this cohort of red pandas, and has variable clinical expression.

Ecology and Infection Dynamics of Multi-Host Amdoparvoviral and Protoparvoviral Carnivore Pathogens

“…It is not surprising that some of the viruses under investigation were not observed as they may be restricted to distant areas [17,24], to more distantly related hosts [23,24], or to captive environments [19,25,27]. However, we could also not detect the presence of SKAV, which is the closest known relative to AMDV, known to circulate with high prevalence rates among skunks of mainland BC, and for which spillover to mink has been documented [26].…”

“…Within the subfamily Parvovirinae, which so far includes only viruses of vertebrates, viruses within three genera are known to infect terrestrial carnivores, including mustelids. Nevertheless, several studies highlight how our knowledge of (parvo)virus diversity is still very limited as many novel parvoviruses, including those infecting carnivores, are being discovered [17,19,20,23,[25][26][27]. Furthermore, for many of the already known viruses we have a very limited understanding about host distribution, especially among wildlife, as they are predominantly studied in domestic or captive populations.…”

“…Currently circulating AMDV strains probably originated in North America, but viruses have been diffused worldwide as a consequence of international animal trading and similar viral strains now circulate on farms and surrounding areas around the world [18,21,22]. Furthermore, other viruses within the genus Amdoparvovirus have recently been discovered that can infect related carnivores, such as skunk amdoparvovirus (SKAV), red panda amdoparvovirus (RpAPV), raccoon dog and fox amdoparvovirus (RFAV), gray fox amdovirus (GFAV) and red fox fecal amdovirus (RFFAV) [23][24][25][26][27]. Because these viruses replicate in macrophages and viral entry is likely mediated by cellular Fc receptors recognizing antibody covered viral particles, cross-species transmission is common [18].…”

Viral Metagenomics Reveals Diverse Viruses in the Feces Samples of Raccoon Dogs

“…Amdoparvoviruses were firstly identified in the 1950s in minks and caused Aleutian disease ( 25 ). In addition to minks, amdoparvovirus can also infect other mustelids and small carnivores including ferrets, badgers, weasels, otters, raccoons, striped skunks, bobcat, dog, cat, arctic foxes, red pandas, and so on ( 26 , 27 ). An amdoparvovirus (named RDAM) was detected in fecal samples of raccoon dogs in the present study.…”

Diversity and transmission of Aleutian mink disease virus in feral and farmed American mink and native mustelids

“…In addition to AMDV, other amdoparvoviruses, such as skunk amdovirus (SKAV) ( Canuti et al. 2017 ), red panda amdoparvovirus (RpAPV) ( Alex et al. 2018 ), raccoon dog and fox amdoparvovirus (RFAV) ( Shao et al.…”