Enteritis in an alpaca (Vicugna pacos) associated with a potentially novel adenovirus

Abstract

Adenovirus-associated enteritis was diagnosed by histopathology of small intestine in a 2-year-old alpaca (Vicugna pacos). Electron microscopy confirmed intracytoplasmic and intranuclear adenoviral particles within enterocytes. Nucleic acid was extracted from paraffin-embedded tissue sections, and a pan-adenovirus nested polymerase chain reaction (PCR) assay was employed to target a partial sequence of the polymerase gene. The PCR product (321 bp) was cloned and sequenced. Comparison of the nucleotide sequence against the National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI) nucleotide database demonstrated 68% identity with the isolates Canine adenovirus 1 and Bovine adenovirus 3. Comparison of the predicted amino acid sequence against the NCBI database demonstrated 75% identity with Bovine adenovirus 3. Phylogenetic analysis supported the relatively close relationship of this isolate to Bovine adenovirus 3, but the alpaca isolate was sufficiently distant to be considered a potentially novel adenovirus for this species.

Molecular characterization of rotavirus isolated from alpaca ( Vicugna pacos ) crias with diarrhea in the Andean Region of Cusco, Peru

“…Thus, there is serologic and immunochemical evidence of exposure to bovine respiratory, enteric and systemic viruses (Rivera et al, 1987;Rosadio et al, 1993;Puntel, 1997;Puntel et al, 1999;Leoni et al, 2001;Victorio et al, 2004;Cabello et al, 2006;Marcoppido et al, 2010;Rosadio et al, 2011). Enteric disease, caused by protozoa, enteric bacteria and enteric viruses, remains a leading cause of morbidity and mortality of SAC crias (Parreño et al, 2004;Constantini et al, 2001;Cebra et al, 2003;Palacios et al, 2005;Whitehead and Anderson 2006;Morales et al, 2007;Starkey et al, 2007;Twomey et al, 2012;Lopez et al, 2011;Marcoppido et al, 2011;Badaracco et al, 2013). The negative effects of enteric disease in alpaca production are significant and indicate a need for further investigation to establish more precisely roles and impact of enteric pathogens in morbidity and mortality associated with diarrhea.…”