Bovine alphaherpesvirus 1, bovine alphaherpesvirus 5 and bubaline alphaherpesvirus 1 in palatine tonsils from water buffaloes in Northern Brazil and possible links with the origin of bovine alphaherpesvirus type 5

Abstract

Herpesviruses are significant pathogens of ruminants. In buffalo cattle, herpesviruses have not been thoroughly studied. The aim of this study was to investigate the occurrence of bubaline alphaherpesvirus 1 (BuAHV1), bovine alphaherpesvirus 1 (BoAHV1), and bovine alphaherpesvirus 5 (BoAHV5) in 293 palatine tonsils of apparently healthy water buffaloes from Pará (Brazil). A nested PCR (nPCR) targeting a region of UL44, followed by sequencing, was used to detect and differentiate between the viral types. Two samples were BoAHV1 positive only; 11 samples were BoAHV5 positive only; four samples were BuAHV1 positive only; and one sample was positive for both BoAHV1 and BoAHV5. No infectious virus could be recovered from the samples. This is the first report on both a BoAHV5 detection and a BoAHV1 and BoAHV5 coinfection in water buffaloes. Phylogenetic analyses revealed that the recovered BoAHV5 sequences were more closely related to BuAHV1 than to BoAHV1. Moreover, BuAHV1 sequences identified here were more closely related to those of BoAHV5 of Indian origin. Therefore, evidence is provided here to confirm that not only BoAHV1 and BuAHV1, but also BoAHV5, can infect water buffaloes. For a better understanding of the phylogenetic relationships, more studies sequencing complete genomes are necessary.