| Autor: |
Hannon C; School of Veterinary Science, The University of Queensland, Gatton, QLD 4343, Australia., Sarker S; Biomedical Sciences and Molecular Biology, College of Public Health, Medical and Veterinary Sciences, James Cook University, Townsville, QLD 4811, Australia., Suen WW; Australian Centre for Disease Preparedness, CSIRO, Geelong, VIC 3220, Australia., Bielefeldt-Ohmann H; School of Chemistry & Molecular Biosciences, The University of Queensland, St. Lucia, QLD 4072, Australia.; Australian Infectious Diseases Centre, The University of Queensland, St. Lucia, QLD 4072, Australia. |
| Abstrakt: |
As part of a sea turtle health monitoring program on the central east coast of Queensland, Australia, stranded and sick green sea turtles ( Chelonia mydas ) were subjected to necropsy and histopathology. A subset of these turtles had myocarditis of varying severity, which could not be attributed to parasitism by spirorchid flukes or bacterial infections. We, therefore, undertook an investigation to determine whether virus infections might be part of the pathogenesis. Deep sequencing revealed abundant DNA virus contigs in the heart tissue, of which CRESS and circoviruses appeared to be the most consistently present. Further analysis revealed the homology of some of the circoviruses to the beak and feather disease virus. While a causative link to myocarditis could not be established, the presence of these viruses may play a contributing role by affecting the immune system and overall health of animals exposed to pollutants, higher water temperatures, and decreasing nutrition. |
