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A novel cetacean adenovirus in stranded harbour porpoises from the North Sea: detection and molecular characterization

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Abstract

Harbour porpoises (Phocoena phocoena) are the most prevalent cetaceans in the North Sea. The fecal viral flora of 21 harbour porpoises stranded along the Dutch coastline was analyzed by a metagenomics approach. Sequences of a novel cetacean mastadenovirus, designated harbour porpoise adenovirus 1 (HpAdV-1), were detected. The sequence of a 23-kbp genomic region, spanning the conserved late region, was determined using primer walking. Phylogenetic analysis indicated that HpAdV-1 is most closely related to bottlenose dolphin adenovirus and clusters with Cetartiodactyla adenoviruses. The prevalence of HpAdV-1 was low (2.6%) based on targeted PCR-screening of the intestinal contents of 151 harbour porpoises stranded between 2010 and 2013.

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Acknowledgements

This report was only possible thanks to the efforts made in finding and securing harbour porpoise carcasses by the volunteers of the Dutch stranding network, including the organizations and institutes involved. We thank Dr. Sal Frasca for histopathologic examination of the North American harbour porpoise.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Pathobiology, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Utrecht University, P.O. Box 80.158, 3508 TD, Utrecht, The Netherlands

    Steven J. van Beurden, Lonneke L. IJsseldijk, Geert de Vrieze, Andrea Gröne & M. Hélène Verheije

  2. Department of Viroscience, Erasmus Medical Center, P.O. Box 2040, 3000 CA, Rotterdam, The Netherlands

    Marco W. G. van de Bildt, Lineke Begeman & Thijs Kuiken

  3. College of Veterinary Medicine, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL, 32610, USA

    James F. X. Wellehan Jr. & Thomas B. Waltzek

  4. INRS-Institut Armand-Frappier, 531 Boul des Prairies, Laval, QC, H7V 1B7, Canada

    Judit J. Penzes

Authors
  1. Steven J. van Beurden
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  2. Lonneke L. IJsseldijk
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  3. Marco W. G. van de Bildt
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  4. Lineke Begeman
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  9. Thijs Kuiken
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  10. M. Hélène Verheije
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  11. Judit J. Penzes
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to M. Hélène Verheije.

Ethics declarations

Harbour porpoise necropsies were funded by the Dutch Ministry of Economic Affairs (Grant Number 140000353). All authors declare that they have no conflict of interest. All applicable International, National, and/or Institutional Guidelines for the care and use of animals were followed.

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van Beurden, S.J., IJsseldijk, L.L., van de Bildt, M.W.G. et al. A novel cetacean adenovirus in stranded harbour porpoises from the North Sea: detection and molecular characterization. Arch Virol 162, 2035–2040 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00705-017-3310-8

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00705-017-3310-8

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