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Examining the Role of Transmission of Chelonid Alphaherpesvirus 5

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Abstract

Marine turtle fibropapillomatosis (FP) is a devastating neoplastic disease characterized by single or multiple cutaneous and visceral fibrovascular tumors. Chelonid alphaherpesvirus 5 (ChHV5) has been identified as the most likely etiologic agent. From 2010 to 2013, the presence of ChHV5 DNA was determined in apparently normal skin, tumors and swab samples (ocular, nasal and cloacal) collected from 114 olive ridley (Lepidochelys olivacea) and 101 green (Chelonia mydas) turtles, with and without FP tumors, on the Pacific coasts of Costa Rica and Nicaragua. For nesting olive ridley turtles from Costa Rica without FP, 13.5% were found to be positive for ChHV5 DNA in at least one sample, while in Nicaragua, all olive ridley turtles had FP tumors, and 77.5% tested positive for ChHV5 DNA. For green turtles without FP, 19.8% were found to be positive for ChHV5 DNA in at least one of the samples. In turtles without FP tumors, ChHV5 DNA was detected more readily in skin biopsies than swabs. Juvenile green turtles caught at the foraging site had a higher prevalence of ChHV5 DNA than adults. The presence of ChHV5 DNA in swabs suggests a possible route of viral transmission through viral secretion and excretion via corporal fluids.

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Acknowledgements

We are grateful to all contributors who selflessly assisted with various sampling endeavors, especially Ricardo Jiménez, Karen Vega and Martha Sarmento in the Golfo Dulce; Laura Badilla and Wilbert Villachica in Santa Rosa NP; Laura Brenes and Carolina Salas in Ostional NWR, Costa Rica; Carlos Mario Orrego, Adriana Espinosa and Oscar Sánchez in La Flor NWR and Chacocente NWR, Nicaragua. This work was supported by the Fondo de Educación Superior Estatal del Consejo Nacional de Rectores de Costa Rica (CONARE), the Ministry of Science and Technology of Costa Rica and the Fishing Law of Costa Rica. The diagnostic tests were supported by the Environmental Health Laboratory at the University of Hawaii at Manoa. We would also like to thank the National System of Conservation Areas (SINAC), the Ministry of Environment and Energy (MINAE) of Costa Rica and the Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources (MARENA) of Nicaragua. Collect permit numbers: MARENA-Nicaragua: MARENA-DM-JAS0523.04.2009; MINAET-SINAC-Costa Rica: SINAC-SE-GASP-PI-202 Cites Permit numbers: USA, 12US75218A/9, Costa Rica, 2014-CR81/SJ.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Clinic for Birds, Reptiles, Amphibians and Fish, Justus-Liebig-University Giessen, Frankfurte Str. 91-93, 35392, Giessen, Germany

    Andrea Chaves & Michael Lierz

  2. Escuela de Biología, Universidad de Costa Rica, San Jose, 11501-2060, Costa Rica

    Andrea Chaves, Otto Monge & Gustavo Gutiérrez-Espeleta

  3. Department of Environmental Science and Policy, George Mason University, 4400 University Dr, Fairfax, VA, USA

    A. Alonso Aguirre

  4. Escuela de Ciencias Biológicas, Universidad Nacional, Heredia, 86-3000, Costa Rica

    Kinndle Blanco-Peña

  5. Centro de Investigación en Enfermedades Tropicales, Facultad de Microbiología, Universidad de Costa Rica, San Jose, 2060-1000, Costa Rica

    Andrés Moreira-Soto & Mauricio Jiménez

  6. Escuela de Medicina Veterinaria, Universidad Nacional, Heredia, 86-3000, Costa Rica

    Ana M. Torres

  7. Facultad de Ciencias Agrarias, Universidad de Ciencias Comerciales, P-84, Managua, Nicaragua

    José L. Soto-Rivas

  8. Environmental Health, Department of Public Health Sciences, University of Hawaii at Mānoa, 1960 East-West Road, Biomed D105, Honolulu, HI, USA

    Yuanan Lu

  9. WIDECAST Costa Rica, San Jose, 496-1100, Costa Rica

    Didiher Chacón & Luis Fonseca

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  1. Andrea Chaves
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  2. A. Alonso Aguirre
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  3. Kinndle Blanco-Peña
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  4. Andrés Moreira-Soto
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  5. Otto Monge
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  6. Ana M. Torres
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  7. José L. Soto-Rivas
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  8. Yuanan Lu
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  9. Didiher Chacón
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  11. Mauricio Jiménez
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  13. Michael Lierz
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Correspondence to Andrea Chaves.

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Chaves, A., Aguirre, A.A., Blanco-Peña, K. et al. Examining the Role of Transmission of Chelonid Alphaherpesvirus 5. EcoHealth 14, 530–541 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10393-017-1248-7

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