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Mass mortality associated with a frog virus 3-like Ranavirus infection in farmed tadpoles Rana catesbeiana from Brazil.

ABSTRACT: Ranaviruses (Iridoviridae) are increasingly associated with mortality events in amphibians, fish, and reptiles. They have been recently associated with mass mortality events in Brazilian farmed tadpoles of the American bullfrog Rana catesbeiana Shaw, 1802. The objectives of the present study were to further characterize the virus isolated from sick R. catesbeiana tadpoles and confirm the etiology in these outbreaks. Sick tadpoles were collected in 3 farms located in Goiás State, Brazil, from 2003 to 2005 and processed for virus isolation and characterization, microbiology, histopathology, and parasitology. The phylogenetic relationships of Rana catesbeiana ranavirus (RCV-BR) with other genus members was investigated by PCR with primers specific for the major capsid protein gene (MCP) and the RNA polymerase DNA-dependent gene (Pol II). Sequence analysis and multiple alignments for MCP products showed >99% amino acid identity with other ranaviruses, while Pol II products showed 100% identity. Further diagnostics of the pathology including histology and transmission electron microscopy confirmed the viral etiology of these mass deaths. As far as we know, this is the first report of a ranaviral infection affecting aquatic organisms in Brazil. Additionally, our results suggest that American bullfrogs may have served as a vector of transmission of this virus, which highlights the potential threat of amphibian translocation in the world distribution of pathogens.

SUBMITTER: Mazzoni R

PROVIDER: S-EPMC2901097 | biostudies-literature | 2009 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Mass mortality associated with a frog virus 3-like Ranavirus infection in farmed tadpoles Rana catesbeiana from Brazil.

Mazzoni Rolando R de Mesquita Albenones José AJ Fleury Luiz Fernando F LF de Brito Wilia Marta Elsner Diederichsen WM Nunes Iolanda A IA Robert Jacques J Morales Heidi H Coelho Alexandre Siqueira Guedes AS Barthasson Denise Leão DL Galli Leonardo L Catroxo Marcia H B MH

Diseases of aquatic organisms 20091101 3

Ranaviruses (Iridoviridae) are increasingly associated with mortality events in amphibians, fish, and reptiles. They have been recently associated with mass mortality events in Brazilian farmed tadpoles of the American bullfrog Rana catesbeiana Shaw, 1802. The objectives of the present study were to further characterize the virus isolated from sick R. catesbeiana tadpoles and confirm the etiology in these outbreaks. Sick tadpoles were collected in 3 farms located in Goiás State, Brazil, from 200 ...[more]

PMID: 20066953

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Project description:Klebsiella pneumoniae is a major cause of nosocomial infection and is considered a clinically important bacterium with antibiotic-resistant strains. There are few reports of K. pneumoniae infections in cultured aquatic animals, and no natural infection has been reported in amphibians. From September to October 2021, a high-mortality disease outbreak occurred in a pond-raised American bullfrog farm in Guangzhou, China. The infected bullfrogs were characterized by multiple organ congestive enlargement and inflammation. A pathogenic bacterium was isolated from the viscera of infected bullfrogs and confirmed to be K. pneumoniae by morphological, biochemical, and phylogenetic analyses. Infection experiments confirmed the virulence of the pathogenic strain against bullfrogs and tadpoles. A histopathological examination showed that the strain was harmful to multiple organs. Antibiotic resistance experiments indicated the isolate was a carbapenemase-producing multidrug-resistant K. pneumoniae (MDR-KP) strain. This study is the first report of K. pneumoniae infected American bullfrogs (Rana catesbeiana) and amphibians. These results will shed light on the pathogenicity of K. pneumoniae and help prevent and control K. pneumoniae infections in bullfrogs. IMPORTANCE Klebsiella pneumoniae is recognized as the most common multidrug-resistant bacterial pathogen in humans, and little is known about its pathogenicity in aquatic animals. Recently, K. pneumoniae was found to cause substantial mortality and morbidity in American farm frogs. This was the first report of K. pneumoniae infecting amphibians. In this study, we analyzed the biochemical, growth, and phylogenetic characteristics of the K. pneumoniae strain and described the symptoms and pathological features of infected bullfrogs and tadpoles; this will provide useful data for the prevention and control of infectious diseases, which has been suggested to decrease economic losses in bullfrog farming and reduce the potential threat to public health posed by K. pneumoniae.

Dataset Information

Mass mortality associated with a frog virus 3-like Ranavirus infection in farmed tadpoles Rana catesbeiana from Brazil.

Publications

Mass mortality associated with a frog virus 3-like Ranavirus infection in farmed tadpoles Rana catesbeiana from Brazil.

Similar Datasets

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