Vet World   Vol.15   August-2022  Article-19

The first study on the occurrence of bovine herpesviruses in the wild fauna of the Moscow region, Russia

Background and Aim: Some pathogens that cause infections in cattle are found in wild artiodactyls. Their prevalence, possible impact on the population of free-living animals, and the spread of infectious pathology in livestock have yet to be studied. We investigated the occurrence of bovine herpesviruses (BoHV-1, BoHV-4, and BoHV-6) among wild moose and roe deer in 8 areas of the Moscow region in the Russian Federation.

Materials and Methods: One hundred and one tissue samples and nasal swabs of 24 moose and seven roe deer were studied using a real-time polymerase chain reaction (PCR) for BoHV-1 DNA and conventional PCR for BoHV-4 and BoHV-6 DNA. A virus neutralization test (VNT) was used to detect antibodies to BoHV-1 in 19 serum samples. The final antibody titer was calculated with the Spearman-Kärber method.

Results: BoHV-4 and BoHV-6 DNA were not detected in all studied samples of 31 animals. BoHV-1 DNA was detected using a real-time PCR in nasal swabs from 2 adult roe deer. For BoHV-1, only 9/19 tested serum samples reacted positive in VNT with the titer range from 0.67 ± 0.19 to 3.75 ± 0.10 log2. Antibodies were detected in all age groups, more often in fawns under 1-year-old. The seropositivity of females was higher than in males.

Conclusion: Wild ungulates can potentially represent a reservoir of new pathogenic livestock viruses. To study the prevalence and genetic diversity of wild ungulate herpesviruses, detailed molecular studies of the cervid herpesvirus 1, cervid herpesvirus 2, and elk herpesvirus 1 are necessary. Keywords: antibody, bovine herpesvirus-1, bovine herpesviruses, moose, polymerase chain reaction, roe deer.

Keywords: antibody, bovine herpesvirus-1, bovine herpesviruses, moose, polymerase chain reaction, roe deer.

How to cite this article: Yatsentyuk SP, Pchelnikov AV, Safina ER, and Krasnikova MS (2022) The first study on the occurrence of bovine herpesviruses in the wild fauna of the Moscow region, Russia, Veterinary World, 15(8): 2052–2058.

Received: 26-04-2022  Accepted: 20-07-2022     Published online: 24-08-2022

Corresponding author: Svetlana P. Yatsentyuk   E-mail: pcr-lab@vgnki.ru

DOI: 10.14202/vetworld.2022.2052-2058

Copyright: Yatsentyuk, et al. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license, and indicate if changes were made. The Creative Commons Public Domain Dedication waiver (http:// creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/) applies to the data made available in this article, unless otherwise stated.