Molecular epidemiology of seal parvovirus, 1988-2014

• Published in: PloS one Vol. 9; no. 11; p. e112129
• Main Authors: Bodewes, Rogier, Hapsari, Rebriarina, Rubio García, Ana, Sánchez Contreras, Guillermo J, van de Bildt, Marco W G, de Graaf, Miranda, Kuiken, Thijs, Osterhaus, Albert D M E
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States Public Library of Science 12-11-2014; Public Library of Science (PLoS)
• Subjects: Age; Amino acid substitution; Analysis; Animals; Atlantic Ocean; Base Sequence; Biology and Life Sciences; Blood diseases; Bone marrow; Brain; Brain - virology; Brain research; Capsid Proteins - genetics; Coastal waters; Deoxyribonucleic acid; Disease; DNA; DNA, Viral - analysis; Encephalitis; Epidemics; Epidemiology; Europe - epidemiology; Evolution; Gene sequencing; Genetic diversity; Genome, Viral; Grey seals; Health aspects; Infections; Marine mammals; Medicine and Health Sciences; Meningoencephalitis - epidemiology; Meningoencephalitis - veterinary; Meningoencephalitis - virology; Molecular Epidemiology; Monkeys & apes; Mutation; Mutation rates; Nucleotide sequence; Parvovirus - classification; Parvovirus - genetics; Parvoviruses; Phoca - virology; Phoca vitulina; Phylogenetics; Phylogeny; Prevalence; Real-Time Polymerase Chain Reaction; Rehabilitation; Seals; Sequence Analysis, DNA; Spleen; Tissues; Veterinary medicine; Viral Nonstructural Proteins - chemistry; Viral Nonstructural Proteins - genetics; Viruses; Wildlife; Atlantic Ocean; Europe; Denmark; Netherlands; Japan
• ISSN: 1932-6203; 1932-6203
• DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0112129

A novel parvovirus was discovered recently in the brain of a harbor seal (Phoca vitulina) with chronic meningo-encephalitis. Phylogenetic analysis of this virus indicated that it belongs to the genus Erythroparvovirus, to which also human parvovirus B19 belongs. In the present study, the prevalence, genetic diversity and clinical relevance of seal parvovirus (SePV) infections was evaluated in both harbor and grey seals (Halichoerus grypus) that lived in Northwestern European coastal waters from 1988 to 2014. To this end, serum and tissue samples collected from seals were tested for the presence of seal parvovirus DNA by real-time PCR and the sequences of the partial NS gene and the complete VP2 gene of positive samples were determined. Seal parvovirus DNA was detected in nine (8%) of the spleen tissues tested and in one (0.5%) of the serum samples tested, including samples collected from seals that died in 1988. Sequence analysis of the partial NS and complete VP2 genes of nine SePV revealed multiple sites with nucleotide substitutions but only one amino acid change in the VP2 gene. Estimated nucleotide substitution rates per year were 2.00 × 10(-4) for the partial NS gene and 1.15 × 10(-4) for the complete VP2 gene. Most samples containing SePV DNA were co-infected with phocine herpesvirus 1 or PDV, so no conclusions could be drawn about the clinical impact of SePV infection alone. The present study is one of the few in which the mutation rates of parvoviruses were evaluated over a period of more than 20 years, especially in a wildlife population, providing additional insights into the genetic diversity of parvoviruses.