Experimental Frog Virus 3 infection using Brazilian strain: amphibians susceptibility

Abstract

An alarming number of global warnings concerning amphibian mortality outbreaks have been released in recent years. Emerging diseases stand out as the main potential causes. Ranavirus is a worldwide-spread highly infectious disease capable of affecting even other ectothermic animals such as fish and reptiles. One major issue regarding this pathology is the lack of clinical signs before it leads up to death. Aiming at having a better understanding of anurans susceptibility, this study analyzed bullfrog (Lithobates catesbeianus) survival rate, when challenged with three doses of a Brazilian strain of Frog Virus 3 (FV3). The qPCR analysis indicated a low infectivity rate in these animals both as larvae and as adults. To elucidate the results, the following hypothesis was performed: 1) The amount of inoculum used on the frogs was insufficient to trigger an infection; 2) For the FV3 to produce clinical signs in this species, there is the need for a cofactor; 3) The animals did undergo FV3 infection but recovered in the course of the experiment, and 4) The inoculum utilized might have been low-virulence. Finally, the presence of actual clinical signs of ranavirus is discussed, with the more likely hypothesis.

Marked systemic necrotizing disease in a Leptodactylus vastus (Anura: Leptodactylidae) from an urban reserve in northeastern Brazil

“…The reported injuries include mild to moderate hemorrhagic and necrotizing lesions in the kidneys, alimentary tract, liver, and skin (21). Experimentally based descriptions of Ranavirus pathology followed the disease course at a maximum of 21 days post-infection (1,13,14) and presented acute/subacute mild and moderate inflammatory features. Therefore, the current case represented a chronic disease course and might have involved a non-lethal virulence virus strain or an adapted host species.…”