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

Arch Virol. 2017 Jul;162(7):2035-2040. doi: 10.1007/s00705-017-3310-8. Epub 2017 Mar 10.

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.

MeSH terms

  • Adenoviridae / genetics*
  • Adenoviridae / isolation & purification*
  • Adenoviridae Infections / veterinary*
  • Amino Acid Sequence
  • Animal Diseases / virology*
  • Animals
  • Feces / virology
  • Metagenomics
  • North Sea
  • Phocoena / virology*
  • Phylogeny