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Increased prevalence and new evidence of multi-species chelonid herpesvirus 5 (ChHV5) infection in the sea turtles of Mabul Island, Borneo

Fibropapillomatosis (FP) is a debilitating tumor disease affecting all species of sea turtles globally. The most probable etiological agent for FP is the chelonid herpesvirus 5 (ChHV5). A 2015–2016 field survey of the sea turtles at Mabul Island, Sabah, Malaysia, found three green turtles (Chelonia...

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Main Authors: Dexter Miller Robben, Pushpa Palaniappan, Aswini Leela Loganathan, Vijay Kumar Subbiah
Format: Article
Language:English
English
Published: Multidisciplinary Digital Publishing Institute (MDPI) 2023
Subjects:
QL750-795 Animal behavior
SH20.3-191 Aquaculture
Online Access:https://eprints.ums.edu.my/id/eprint/42255/1/ABSTRACT.pdf
https://eprints.ums.edu.my/id/eprint/42255/2/FULL%20TEXT.pdf
https://eprints.ums.edu.my/id/eprint/42255/
https://doi.org/10.3390/ani13020290
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spelling my.ums.eprints.422552024-12-16T03:25:48Z https://eprints.ums.edu.my/id/eprint/42255/ Increased prevalence and new evidence of multi-species chelonid herpesvirus 5 (ChHV5) infection in the sea turtles of Mabul Island, Borneo Dexter Miller Robben Pushpa Palaniappan Aswini Leela Loganathan Vijay Kumar Subbiah QL750-795 Animal behavior SH20.3-191 Aquaculture Fibropapillomatosis (FP) is a debilitating tumor disease affecting all species of sea turtles globally. The most probable etiological agent for FP is the chelonid herpesvirus 5 (ChHV5). A 2015–2016 field survey of the sea turtles at Mabul Island, Sabah, Malaysia, found three green turtles (Chelonia mydas) with FP tumors. However, the presence of ChHV5 was confirmed in 7.8% (9/115) green turtles and was absent (0/16) in the hawksbill (Eretmochelys imbricata) turtles, as determined through molecular approaches. Subsequent to this, we managed to conduct field sampling of sea turtles in November 2019, just prior to the pandemic lockdown. Here, we aim to determine the extent of ChHV5 infection, and whether the virus has spread to other species of sea turtles around Mabul Island after the first reports of ChHV5 and FP. A total of 69 tissue samples were obtained from green (63), hawksbill (5), and olive ridley (Lepidochelys olivacea) (1) turtles in November 2019. We observed only one green turtle that exhibited FP tumors. To determine the presence of ChHV5, viral DNA was isolated from all the tissue samples, and polymerase chain reaction (PCR) analysis targeting three highly conserved regions of the virus, i.e., the capsid protein gene, glycoprotein H gene, and glycoprotein B gene, was performed. Out of 63 green turtles, 27 were positive for the presence of the virus. The prevalence of ChHV5 in the green turtles showed an increase of 42.9% as compared to the previous sampling conducted in 2015–2016. Additionally, for the first time, three out of the five hawksbill turtles, and one olive ridley turtle, were also PCR-positive for the virus. In conclusion, this study reveals that there has been an increase in ChHV5 infection among turtles in Mabul Island over the last 3 years. ChHV5 should be considered a potential threat, and mitigation efforts should be taken to prevent the spread of infection among the endangered sea turtles of Mabul Island and surrounding islands within the Coral Triangle. Multidisciplinary Digital Publishing Institute (MDPI) 2023 Article NonPeerReviewed text en https://eprints.ums.edu.my/id/eprint/42255/1/ABSTRACT.pdf text en https://eprints.ums.edu.my/id/eprint/42255/2/FULL%20TEXT.pdf Dexter Miller Robben and Pushpa Palaniappan and Aswini Leela Loganathan and Vijay Kumar Subbiah (2023) Increased prevalence and new evidence of multi-species chelonid herpesvirus 5 (ChHV5) infection in the sea turtles of Mabul Island, Borneo. Animals, 13. pp. 1-10. https://doi.org/10.3390/ani13020290
institution Universiti Malaysia Sabah
building UMS Library
collection Institutional Repository
continent Asia
country Malaysia
content_provider Universiti Malaysia Sabah
content_source UMS Institutional Repository
url_provider http://eprints.ums.edu.my/
language English
English
topic QL750-795 Animal behavior
SH20.3-191 Aquaculture
spellingShingle QL750-795 Animal behavior
SH20.3-191 Aquaculture
Dexter Miller Robben
Pushpa Palaniappan
Aswini Leela Loganathan
Vijay Kumar Subbiah
Increased prevalence and new evidence of multi-species chelonid herpesvirus 5 (ChHV5) infection in the sea turtles of Mabul Island, Borneo
description Fibropapillomatosis (FP) is a debilitating tumor disease affecting all species of sea turtles globally. The most probable etiological agent for FP is the chelonid herpesvirus 5 (ChHV5). A 2015–2016 field survey of the sea turtles at Mabul Island, Sabah, Malaysia, found three green turtles (Chelonia mydas) with FP tumors. However, the presence of ChHV5 was confirmed in 7.8% (9/115) green turtles and was absent (0/16) in the hawksbill (Eretmochelys imbricata) turtles, as determined through molecular approaches. Subsequent to this, we managed to conduct field sampling of sea turtles in November 2019, just prior to the pandemic lockdown. Here, we aim to determine the extent of ChHV5 infection, and whether the virus has spread to other species of sea turtles around Mabul Island after the first reports of ChHV5 and FP. A total of 69 tissue samples were obtained from green (63), hawksbill (5), and olive ridley (Lepidochelys olivacea) (1) turtles in November 2019. We observed only one green turtle that exhibited FP tumors. To determine the presence of ChHV5, viral DNA was isolated from all the tissue samples, and polymerase chain reaction (PCR) analysis targeting three highly conserved regions of the virus, i.e., the capsid protein gene, glycoprotein H gene, and glycoprotein B gene, was performed. Out of 63 green turtles, 27 were positive for the presence of the virus. The prevalence of ChHV5 in the green turtles showed an increase of 42.9% as compared to the previous sampling conducted in 2015–2016. Additionally, for the first time, three out of the five hawksbill turtles, and one olive ridley turtle, were also PCR-positive for the virus. In conclusion, this study reveals that there has been an increase in ChHV5 infection among turtles in Mabul Island over the last 3 years. ChHV5 should be considered a potential threat, and mitigation efforts should be taken to prevent the spread of infection among the endangered sea turtles of Mabul Island and surrounding islands within the Coral Triangle.
format Article
author Dexter Miller Robben
Pushpa Palaniappan
Aswini Leela Loganathan
Vijay Kumar Subbiah
author_facet Dexter Miller Robben
Pushpa Palaniappan
Aswini Leela Loganathan
Vijay Kumar Subbiah
author_sort Dexter Miller Robben
title Increased prevalence and new evidence of multi-species chelonid herpesvirus 5 (ChHV5) infection in the sea turtles of Mabul Island, Borneo
title_short Increased prevalence and new evidence of multi-species chelonid herpesvirus 5 (ChHV5) infection in the sea turtles of Mabul Island, Borneo
title_full Increased prevalence and new evidence of multi-species chelonid herpesvirus 5 (ChHV5) infection in the sea turtles of Mabul Island, Borneo
title_fullStr Increased prevalence and new evidence of multi-species chelonid herpesvirus 5 (ChHV5) infection in the sea turtles of Mabul Island, Borneo
title_full_unstemmed Increased prevalence and new evidence of multi-species chelonid herpesvirus 5 (ChHV5) infection in the sea turtles of Mabul Island, Borneo
title_sort increased prevalence and new evidence of multi-species chelonid herpesvirus 5 (chhv5) infection in the sea turtles of mabul island, borneo
publisher Multidisciplinary Digital Publishing Institute (MDPI)
publishDate 2023
url https://eprints.ums.edu.my/id/eprint/42255/1/ABSTRACT.pdf
https://eprints.ums.edu.my/id/eprint/42255/2/FULL%20TEXT.pdf
https://eprints.ums.edu.my/id/eprint/42255/
https://doi.org/10.3390/ani13020290
_version_ 1818835197233201152
score 13.223943

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