title: Newly recognized herpesvirus causing malignant catarrhal fever in white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus).
abstract: Malignant catarrhal fever (MCF) was diagnosed by clinical signs and lesions in five out of six white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) in a North American zoo. The clinical signs and histopathological lesions in these deer were typical of MCF. Antibody to an epitope conserved among the MCF viruses was detected in the sera collected from the deer. PCR failed to amplify viral sequences from DNA extracted from peripheral blood leukocytes (PBL) and/or spleens of the deer with primers specific for ovine herpesvirus 2 (OHV-2) or specific for alcelaphine herpesvirus 1 (AHV-1). By using degenerate primers targeting a conserved region of a herpesviral DNA polymerase gene, a DNA fragment was amplified from the PBL or spleens of all six deer and sequenced. Alignment of the sequences demonstrated that the virus in the deer belongs to the Gammaherpesvirinae subfamily, exhibiting 82% identity to OHV-2, 71% to AHV-1, and 60% to a newly identified bovine lymphotropic herpesvirus. This virus, which causes classical MCF in white-tailed deer, is a newly recognized agent belonging to the MCF group of gammaherpesviruses. It is the third reported pathogenic MCF virus, genetically distinct but closely related to OHV-2 and AHV-1. The reservoir for the virus has not been identified.
authors.affiliation: Animal Diseases Research Unit, U.S. Department of Agriculture-Agricultural Research Service, Washington State University, Pullman, Washington 99164, USA.
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Li
authors.forename: N
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Dyer
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Keller
authors.forename: T B
authors.initials: TB
authors.lastname: Crawford
mesh_terms: D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000818:Animals; D000914:Antibodies, Viral / Q000097:blood; D001483:Base Sequence; D002417:Cattle; D003001:Cloning, Molecular; D004259:DNA-Directed DNA Polymerase / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics; D003670:Deer; D005260:Female; D006564:Herpesviridae / Q000145:classification* / Q000235:genetics / Q000276:immunology / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D008297:Male; D008304:Malignant Catarrh / Q000473:pathology / Q000821:virology*; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction; D017422:Sequence Analysis, DNA
chemical_list: D000914:Antibodies, Viral; D004259:DNA-Directed DNA Polymerase