Oral communication in 46th Annual IAAAM Meeting and Conference

April 6^th, 2015

Rubio-Guerri C., Garcia-Parraga D., Barros C., Melero M., Alvaro T., Valls M., Crespo JL. and Sanchez-Vizcaino JM.

Gastrointestinal disease is a common problem in marine mammals. The origin of this disease used to be environment, parasites, diet, toxics, and rarely bacteria and viruses. Respect the bacteria origin only clostridial enterotoxemia has been described as a causative agent of primary gastrointestinal disease in captive marine mammals.1 In cetaceans, Helicobacter spp. is a well-recognized problem and has been isolated from gastric mucosal samples producing gastritis and gastric ulcers. Respect viruses, adenovirus has been associated to gastrointestinal signs including abdominal splinting and intermittent blood-tinged diarrhea in sea lions. Adenoviruses are common pathogens in vertebrates, including humans. In marine mammals, adenovirus has been associated to fatal hepatitis in sea lions (discussed above); however, in cetaceans, adenoviruses have been isolated from wild cetaceans, including a sei whale (Balaenoptera borealis), two bowhead whales (Balaena mysticetus) and a beluga whale, (Delphinapterus leucas). These viruses were isolated from gastrointestinal samples, and the correlation between disease and these viruses in cetaceans remains unclear and they had not been characterized. In this study, we report two outbreaks of gastrointestinal disease in captive bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops truncatus) in two different parks of Spain with a distance of one year. In both cases we identified a novel adenovirus, the first well-characterized cetacean adenovirus. The animals were sampled (fecal and orina samples). Viral detection and identification were achieved by PCR-amplification from faecal samples, and sequencing, of partial adenovirus polymerase (pol) and hexon genes; and by producing the virus in HeLa cells, with PCRdetection/ sequencing of the indicated gene fragments, observing virions within the cells by EM. We obtained the same sequence for all animals and it was different to any sequence from GenBank. The causative role of this adenovirus for the gastroenteritis was supported by our failure to find other potential etiological agents; by the exclusive detection in the sick dolphins but not in healthy individuals, of this novel adenovirus in faeces and of seropositivity for canine adenoviruses 1 and 2; and by the disappearance of the virus from faeces soon after the clinical signs disappeared. Therefore, we present partial genomes and phylogenetic analyses of Tursiops adenovirus 1 and the relationship between the gastrointestinal disease and this novel adenovirus. Further, we present development of quantitative PCR assays to be used for surveillance and epidemiologic studies of these viruses

	Servicio de Inmunología Viral y Medicina Preventiva (SUAT). Centro de Vigilancia Sanitaria Veterinaria (VISAVET). Universidad Complutense (UCM).
	Departamento de Sanidad Animal. Facultad de Veterinaria. Universidad Complutense (UCM).
	Oceanogràfic. Ciudad de las Artes y las Ciencias. Generalitat Valenciana.
	Servicios Veterinarios. Mundomar.