Parapoxvirus Infections of Red Deer | CDC EID

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Volume 17, Number 4–April 2011
Dispatch
Parapoxvirus Infections of Red Deer, Italy
Alessandra Scagliarini,1 Francesca Vaccari, Filippo Turrini, Alessandro Bianchi, Paolo Cordioli, and Antonio Lavazza

Author affiliations: Alma Mater Studiorum Università di Bologna, Bologna, Italy (A. Scagliarini, F. Vaccari, F. Turrini); and Istituto Zooprofilattico Sperimentale della Lombardia e dell'Emilia Romagna, Brescia, Italy (A. Bianchi, P. Cordioli, A. Lavazza)


Suggested citation for this article

Abstract
To characterize parapoxviruses causing severe disease in wild ruminants in Stelvio Park, Italy, we sequenced and compared the DNA of several isolates. Results demonstrated that the red deer isolates are closely related to the parapox of red deer in New Zealand virus.

The genus Parapoxvirus (family Poxviridae, subfamily Chordopoxvirinae) comprises several members: orf virus (OV), bovine papular stomatitis virus (BPSV), pseudocowpox virus (PCPV), and parapox of red deer in New Zealand virus (PVNZ). PVNZ is responsible for a contagious pustular dermatitis in farmed red deer, with outbreaks reported only in New Zealand (1). Cases of parapoxvirus (PPV) pustular stomatitis were reported in wild ruminants in Stelvio Park in the Italian Alps during 2008. The affected animals had erosions and ulcers in the mouth, which led to death by starvation, particularly during the winter. Similar cases have also been described during 1992 in Finland and Norway in reindeer (Rangifer tarandus). Recently, the causative viruses of the clinical forms in reindeer were shown to be closely related to OV virus and PCPV, excluding the circulation of PVNZ in these countries (2,3).

To characterize the PPV agents causing severe disease in wild ruminants of Stelvio Park, we sequenced and compared the DNA of several isolates. Results showed that the viruses isolated from chamois (Rupicapra rupicapra) and ibex (Capra ibex) were closely related to OV, whereas the isolates from red deer (Cervus elaphus) grouped with PVNZ. Our findings provide new information about the diffusion of PPVs in wild ruminants and evidence that PVNZ is circulating outside New Zealand.

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Parapoxvirus Infections of Red Deer | CDC EID



Suggested Citation for this Article
Scagliarini A, Vaccari F, Turrini F, Bianchi A, Cordioli P, Lavazza A. Parapoxvirus infections of red deer, Italy. Emerg Infect Dis [serial on the Internet]. 2011 Apr [date cited].
http://www.cdc.gov/EID/content/17/4/684.htm


DOI: 10.3201/eid1704.101454



1Current affiliation: University of Bologna, Bologna, Italy.


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Alessandra Scagliarini, Dipartimento di Sanità Pubblica Veterinaria e Patologia Animale, Alma Mater Studiorum, Università di Bologna, via Tolara di Sopra 5040064 Ozzano Emilia, Bologna, Italy; email: alessand.scagliarini@unibo.it