Evidence of Three New Members of Malignant Catarrhal Fever Virus Group in Muskox (Ovibos moschatus), Nubian ibex (Capra nubiana), and Gemsbok (Oryx gazella)

Abstract

Six members of the malignant catarrhal fever (MCF) virus group of ruminant rhadinoviruses have been identified to date. Four of these viruses are clearly associated with clinical disease: alcelaphine herpesvirus 1 (AlHV-1) carried by wildebeest (Connochaetes spp.); ovine herpesvirus 2 (OvHV-2), ubiquitous in domestic sheep; caprine herpesvirus 2 (CpHV-2), endemic in domestic goats; and the virus of unknown origin found causing classic MCF in white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus; MCFV-WTD). Using serology and polymerase chain reaction with (degenerate primers targeting a portion of the herpesviral DNA polymerase gene, evidence of three previously unrecognized rhadinoviruses in the MCF virus group was found in muskox (Ovibos moschatus), Nubian ibex (Capra nubiana), and gemsbok (South African oryx, Oryx gazella), respectively. Base on sequence alignment, the viral sequence in the muskox is most closely related to MCFV-WTD (81.5% sequence identity) and that in the Nubian ibex is closest to CpHV-2 (89.3% identity). The viral sequence in the gemsbok is most closely related to AlHV-1 (85.1% identity). No evidence of disease association with these viruses has been found.

Gammaherpesvirus Infection in Semidomesticated Reindeer (Rangifer Tarandus Tarandus): A Cross-Sectional, Serologic Study in Northern Norway

“…The cELISA test is based on a monoclonal antibody (15-A) against an epitope highly conserved among all MCFVs identified, including AlHV1, AlHV2, OvHV2, CpHV2, and Hippotragine herpesvirus 1 (HiHV1), the virus that causes MCF in white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus; Li et al, 2000), and the viruses carried by muskox, Nubian ibex (Capra nubiana), gemsbok (Oryx gazella) (Li et al, 2003a), and aoudad (Ammotragus lervia) (Li et al, 2005), respectively. Sera were scored by optical density (OD), based on the ability of each sample to inhibit binding of the 15-A monoclonal antibody to the AlHV1 antigen.…”

“…This subfamily of the Herpesvirales order, the Herpesviridae family, is divided into four genera: Lymphocryptovirus, Rhadinovirus, Percavirus, and Macavirus. The genus Macavirus contains nine formally recognized species (Davison et al, 2009), and several others have also been reported (Li et al, 2000(Li et al, , 2003a. Most viruses in this genus are closely related genetically and antigenically and are associated with malignant catarrhal fever (MCF) in several ruminant species.…”

“…Caprine herpesvirus 2 (CpHV2) is a more recently discovered and apparently less-virulent virus, which is enzootic in domestic goats (Capra aegagrus hircus; Chmielewicz et al, 2001;Li et al, 2001a) and can cause MCF in moose (Alces alces) and various species of deer (Cervidae; Crawford et al, 2002;Keel et al, 2003;Li et al, 2003b;Vikoren et al, 2006). Many other MCF-associated viruses have been reported, for example in muskox (Ovibos moschatus; Li et al, 2003a). Included in the genus Macavirus are also the viruses that are not associated with MCF including, among others, Bovine herpesvirus 6 (BoHV6), previously known as bovine lymphotrophic herpesvirus (Rovnak et al, 1998).…”

Sheep associated malignant catarrhal fever: an emerging disease of bovids in India

“…AlHV-2 causes MCF in hartebeest (Alcelaphus buselaphus P) and topi (Damaliscus korrigum O) [38,58]. Hippotragine herpesvirus 1 (HiHV-1) has been detected in the roan antelope (Hippotragus eguinus D) and oryx (Oryx gazella) L [43,67]. Caprine herpesvirus 2 (CpHV-2) is enzootic in domestic goats [18,41] and can cause MCF disease in several ruminants, including sika deer (Cervus nippon T.), white-tailed deer (Odocolieus virginianus Z.…”

“…Six of them clearly associated with clinical disease are, AlHV-1, OvHV-2, caprine herpesvirus-2 (CpHV-2), MCFV of unknown origin causing disease in white-tailed deer (MCFV-WTD), ibex MCFV (MCFV-ibex) carried by ibex, and an AlHV-2-like virus carried by Jackson hartebeest. The remaining four viruses carried by roan antelope [68], oryx, muskox [43], and aoudad [47] have not yet been associated with disease [51]. AlHV-1 is endemic in wildebeest, in which it induces sub-clinical infection and causes WA-MCF in cattle and other susceptible ruminants [65].…”