Astrovirus-Associated Polioencephalomyelitis in an Alpaca

• Published in: Viruses Vol. 13; no. 1; p. 50
• Main Authors: Küchler, Leonore, Rüfli, Isabelle, Koch, Michel C, Hierweger, Melanie M, Kauer, Ronja V, Boujon, Céline L, Hilbe, Monika, Oevermann, Anna, Zanolari, Patrik, Seuberlich, Torsten, Gurtner, Corinne
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Switzerland MDPI AG 30.12.2020; MDPI
• Subjects: alpaca; Animals; Astroviridae - genetics; Astroviridae Infections - veterinary; astrovirus; Biopsy; Blood; Brain - pathology; Brain - virology; Case Report; Cattle; Cattle Diseases - diagnosis; Cattle Diseases - virology; Encephalitis; Epitopes; Genomes; Hybridization; Immunohistochemistry; In Situ Hybridization; Labeling; Next-generation sequencing; Polioencephalomyelitis; Poliomyelitis - veterinary; Polyclonal antibodies; Polymerase chain reaction; Proteins; Real-Time Polymerase Chain Reaction; real-time RT-PCR; Ribonucleic acid; RNA; RNA, Viral; Spinal cord; Uterus; Viruses; United States > US; Switzerland; California; polioencephalomyelitis; immunohistochemistry; astrovirus; real-time RT-PCR; alpaca; next generation sequencing
• ISSN: 1999-4915; 1999-4915
• DOI: 10.3390/v13010050

An 8-year-old alpaca was admitted to the emergency service of the Clinic for Ruminants in Bern due to a reduced general condition and progressive neurological signs. Despite supportive treatment, its condition deteriorated and the animal had to be euthanized. Histopathological analysis revealed a severe non-suppurative polioencephalomyelitis with neuronal necrosis, most likely of viral origin. We detected abundant neuronal labelling with antibodies directed against two different epitopes of Bovine Astrovirus CH13/NeuroS1 (BoAstV-CH13/NeuroS1), which is a common viral agent associated with non-suppurative encephalitis in Swiss cattle. These findings were further verified by detection of viral RNA by use of in-situ hybridization and real-time RT-PCR. Next generation sequencing revealed that the detected virus genome had a pairwise identity of 98.9% to the genome of BoAstV-CH13/NeuroS1. To our knowledge, this is the first report of an astrovirus-associated polioencephalomyelitis in an alpaca. These results point to the possibility of an interspecies transmission of BoAstV-CH13/NeuroS1.