Ranaviruses

Gray, Matthew J.; Chinchar, V. Gregory

doi:10.1007/978-3-319-13755-1

“…Ranaviruses (family Iridoviridae ) are emerging lethal pathogens of ectothermic vertebrates. First discovered in 1965 (Granoff, Came & Rafferty, 1965), ranaviruses were initially studied for their interesting molecular biology but rose to reportable pathogen status as more epizootics were discovered (Schloegel et al, 2010; Gray & Chinchar, 2015). The vast majority of research on the genus Ranavirus has been conducted in amphibians ( Rana is Latin for frog), but despite their name, ranaviruses do not occur only in amphibians (Chinchar & Waltzek, 2014).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Ranaviruses and reptiles

Wirth

¹

,

Schwarzkopf

²

,

Skerratt

³

et al. 2018

PeerJ

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Ranaviruses can infect many vertebrate classes including fish, amphibians and reptiles, but for the most part, research has been focused on non-reptilian hosts, amphibians in particular. More recently, reports of ranaviral infections of reptiles are increasing with over 12 families of reptiles currently susceptible to ranaviral infection. Reptiles are infected by ranaviruses that are genetically similar to, or the same as, the viruses that infect amphibians and fish; however, physiological and ecological differences result in differences in study designs. Although ranaviral disease in reptiles is often influenced by host species, viral strain and environmental differences, general trends in pathogenesis are emerging. More experimental studies using a variety of reptile species, life stages and routes of transmission are required to unravel the complexity of wild ranavirus transmission. Further, our understanding of the reptilian immune response to ranaviral infection is still lacking, although the considerable amount of work conducted in amphibians will serve as a useful guide for future studies in reptiles.

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“…Reptiles are known to consume frogs, fish, and even other reptiles as a part of their natural diet (Kischinovsky et al, 2017). Dead and decaying animals continue to release virions and might be consumed by susceptible reptiles (Brunner et al, 2015;Gray et al, 2015). Asymptomatic amphibians are sometimes reservoirs; they can spread virus to other susceptible species, and possibly reptiles, in multispecies ranavirus epizootics Brunner et al, 2015;Miller et al, 2011).…”

Section: Transmissionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Because of the variability in ranaviral disease signs and severity within and among reptile species (see pathology section), suspected cases of ranaviral disease must be confirmed with laboratory diagnostic techniques. Epidemiological surveys must be adequately designed and powered to ensure ranavirus prevalence is accurately reported (Gray et al, 2015). There have been several studies reporting the negative results of epidemiological surveys (Hanlon et al, 2016;Kolesnik et al, 2017;Winzeler et al, 2018).…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…There have been several studies reporting the negative results of epidemiological surveys (Hanlon et al, 2016;Kolesnik et al, 2017;Winzeler et al, 2018). These results are extremely valuable as they also help describe the distribution and emergence patterns of reptilian ranaviruses; however, it is important to consider the sampling protocols and diagnostic choice when evaluating and comparing epidemiological studies (Gray et al, 2015). Distribution, host range and impact Ranaviruses capable of infecting reptiles have been found on all continents, except Antarctica (Duffus et al, 2015).…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Peer Review #1 of "Ranaviruses and reptiles (v0.2)"

Kirschman¹

2018

0

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Ranaviruses can infect many vertebrate classes including fish, amphibians and reptiles, but for the most part, research has been focused on non-reptilian hosts, amphibians in particular. More recently, reports of ranaviral infections of reptiles are increasing with over 12 families of reptiles currently susceptible to ranaviral infection. Reptiles are infected by ranaviruses that are genetically similar to, or the same as, the viruses that infect amphibians and fish; however, physiological and ecological differences result in differences in study designs. Although ranaviral disease in reptiles is often influenced by host species, viral strain and environmental differences, general trends in pathogenesis are emerging. More experimental studies using a variety of reptile species, life stages and routes of transmission are required to unravel the complexity of wild ranavirus transmission. Further, our understanding of the reptilian immune response to ranaviral infection is still lacking, although the considerable amount of work conducted in amphibians will serve as a useful guide for future studies in reptiles.

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“…Inspection of data from PubMed indicates that from 1990 to 1999 approximately 60 articles related to this family appeared in the literature, whereas over 850 articles involving various iridovirids were published between 2010 and 2019. The marked upsurge in publications reflects the fact that iridovirids, once viewed as obscure viruses with little economic or ecological impact, are now known to be widely distributed in nature, infect a large and diverse array of invertebrates and ectothermic vertebrates, and trigger marked levels of morbidity and mortality in specific populations (e.g., endangered or commercially-important species) [1].…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%