Virus-associated papillomatous skin lesions in a giant guitarfish Rhynchobatus djiddensis: a case report

Diseases of Aquatic Organisms (2015)

Alvin C. Camus Jennifer A. Dill Alexa J. McDermott Melinda S. Camus Terry Fei Fan Ng

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DAO Diseases of Aquatic Organisms Contact the journal Facebook Twitter RSS Mailing List Subscribe to our mailing list via Mailchimp HomeLatest VolumeAbout the JournalEditorsSpecials DAO 117:253-258 (2016) - DOI: https://doi.org/10.3354/dao02956 NOTE Virus-associated papillomatous skin lesions in a giant guitarfish Rhynchobatus djiddensis: a case report Alvin Camus1,*, Jennifer Dill1, Alexa McDermott2, Melinda Camus1, Terry Fei Fan Ng1,3 1Department of Pathology, College of Veterinary Medicine, University of Georgia, Athens, Georgia 30602, USA 2Department of Veterinary Services, Georgia Aquarium, Inc., 225 Baker Street NW, Atlanta, Georgia 30313, USA 3Present address: Division of Viral Diseases, National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, Georgia 30329, USA *Corresponding author. Email: camus@uga.edu ABSTRACT: Although elasmobranch species are increasingly displayed in public aquaria, knowledge of disease in wild and captive elasmobranchs, as well as the agents involved, remains limited, and descriptions are often incomplete. This report describes papillomatous skin lesions in a juvenile giant guitarfish Rhynchobatus djiddensis associated with intranuclear viral particles. Skin biopsies were collected from multiple, friable, raised, villonodular skin lesions affecting pigmented and non-pigmented skin of the caudal fin and ventrum, respectively. Microscopic examination revealed papillary proliferation of the epidermis, with widespread marked karyomegaly of squamous epithelial cells. In approximately 75% of nuclei, chromatin was marginated by one to multiple, large, amphophilic inclusions. Large numbers of unencapsulated, 75 nm, icosahedral viral particles were observed to form large arrays in affected nuclei using transmission electron microscopy. Based on intranuclear location, particle size and morphology, a consensus nested-PCR for adenovirus polymerase was attempted. However, no adenoviral gene sequence was amplified. The nature of the involved virus remains unknown and an ongoing area of investigation. Lesions regressed completely over a 6 mo period, during which time the animal showed no signs of systemic illness, and there has been no recrudescence for 6 mo following resolution. Two cohorts of similar age and in close contact with the case animal were unaffected. KEY WORDS: Virus · Skin lesion · Histopathology · Giant guitarfish Full text in pdf format PreviousCite this article as: Camus A, Dill J, McDermott A, Camus M, Fan Ng TF (2016) Virus-associated papillomatous skin lesions in a giant guitarfish Rhynchobatus djiddensis: a case report. Dis Aquat Org 117:253-258. https://doi.org/10.3354/dao02956 Export citation RSS - Facebook - Tweet - linkedIn Cited by Published in DAO Vol. 117, No. 3. Online publication date: January 13, 2016 Print ISSN: 0177-5103; Online ISSN: 1616-1580 Copyright © 2016 Inter-Research.

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Atlanta

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Aquaculture disease management and microbiota

Virus-based gene therapy research

Animal Virus Infections Studies

10.3354/dao02956

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