Abstract
A walrus (Odobenus rosmarus) born in an aquarium and hand-reared in Japan died at the age of 11 months. The affected animal showed fever and anorexia and had high levels of AST and ALT. Necropsy showed multiple necroses in the liver and adrenal glands and histological examination revealed necrotic lesions of the liver and adrenal cortex, both of which contained intranuclear inclusions. Electron microscopic analysis of the liver sample showed herpesvirus-like particles. High-throughput sequencing analysis of the liver sample and phylogenetic analysis of herpesvirus polymerase genes identified a new virus, Walrus alphaherpesvirus 1 (WaHV-1), which belonged to the subfamily Alphaherpesvirinae and had high homology with Phocid alphaherpesvirus 1. Phylogenetic analysis of the UL30 gene encoding glycoprotein B revealed that WaHV-1 was closely related to a cluster of phocid herpesviruses, including one that caused high mortality rates in harbor seals during past outbreaks. The mother walrus of the dead animal showed evidence of herpesvirus infection in the past and potentially harbored WaHV-1. As a result of hand-rearing, the dead animal might have acquired WaHV-1 from its infected mother and succumbed to WaHV-1 due to lack of maternal IgG, including those that could neutralize WaHV-1.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
References
Fay FH (1982) Ecology and Biology of the Pacific Walrus, Odobenus rosmarus divergens Illiger. N Am Fauna 74:1–279
Devanter DR, Warrener P, Bennett L, Schultz ER, Coulter S, Garber RL, Rose TM, Black J (1996) Detection and analysis of diverse herpesviral species by consensus primer PCR. J Clin Microbiol 34:1666–1671
Kumar S, Stecher G, Tamura K (2016) MEGA7: molecular evolutionary genetics analysis version 7.0 for bigger datasets. Mol Biol Evol 33:1870–1874
Le SQ, Gascuel O (2008) An improved general amino acid replacement matrix. Mol Biol Evol 25:1307–1320
Osterhaus ADME, Yang H, Spijkers HEM, Groen J, Teppema JS, van Steenis G (1985) The isolation and partial characterization of a highly pathogenic herpesvirus from the harbor seal (Phoca vitulina). Arch Virol 86:239–251
Osterhaus ADME (1988) Seal death. Nature 334:301–302
Evermann JF, Ledbetter EC, Maes RK (2011) Canine reproductive, respiratory, and ocular diseases due to canine herpesvirus. Vet Clin N Am 41:1097–1120
Kojima A, Fujinami F, Takeshita M, Minato Y, Yamamura T, Imaizumi K, Okaniwa A (1990) Outbreak of neonatal canine herpesvirus infection in a specific pathogen-free beagle colony. Nihon Juigaku Zasshi 52:145–154
King DP, Parselles R, Gulland FMD, Lapointe JM, Lowenstine LJ, Ferrick DA, Stott JL (1998) Antigenic and nucleotide characterization of a herpesvirus isolated from Pacific harbor seals (Phoca vitulina richardsii). Arch Virol 143:2021–2027
Zarnke RL, Harder TC, Vos HW, Ver Hoef JM, Osterhaus AD (1997) Serologic survey for phocid herpesvirus-1 and -2 in marine mammals from Alaska and Russia. J Wildl Dis 33:459–465
Melero M, García-Párraga D, Corpa JM, Ortega J, Rubio-Guerri C, Crespo JL, Rivera-Arroyo B, Sánchez-Vizcaíno JM (2014) First molecular detection and characterization of herpesvirus and poxvirus in a Pacific walrus (Odobenus rosmarus divergens). BMC Vet Res 10:1–7
Acknowledgements
This study is supported by operating cost from Global Innovation Research of Tokyo University of Agriculture and Technology. We thank Dr. Jayne K. Makino for proofreading the manuscript.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Additional information
Edited by Hartmut Hengel.
Publisher's Note
Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Borjigin, S., Osawa, N., Li, K. et al. Novel herpesvirus discovered in walrus liver. Virus Genes 57, 228–232 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11262-021-01825-0
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11262-021-01825-0