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Journal of Clinical Microbiology, November 2009, p. 3707-3713, Vol. 47, No. 11
0095-1137/09/$08.00+0     doi:10.1128/JCM.01198-09
Copyright © 2009, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.

Cervid Herpesvirus 2, the Primary Agent in an Outbreak of Infectious Keratoconjunctivitis in Semidomesticated Reindeer {triangledown}

Morten Tryland,1* Carlos G. Das Neves,1 Marianne Sunde,2 and Torill Mørk3

Section of Arctic Veterinary Medicine, Department of Food Safety and Infection Biology, The Norwegian School of Veterinary Science,1 National Veterinary Institute Tromsø, Stakkevollveien 23, N-9010 Tromsø,3 Section of Bacteriology, National Veterinary Institute Oslo, Pb. 750 Sentrum, 0106 Oslo, Norway2

Received 18 June 2009/ Returned for modification 7 August 2009/ Accepted 26 August 2009

An outbreak of infectious keratoconjunctivitis (IKC) occurred in semidomesticated reindeer (Rangifer tarandus tarandus) in Troms County, Norway, in February 2009. Twenty-eight animals with clinical symptoms and 12 apparently healthy animals were investigated. They ranged in age from calves of the year to 4-year-old animals (mean, 1.9 years; standard deviation, ±0.9). The seroprevalence of antibodies against cervid herpesvirus 2 (CvHV2) was 86% in animals with IKC and 42% in unaffected animals. For the 28 clinically affected animals, CvHV2 was detected by PCR in swabs obtained from the eye (82%), nose (64%), and vagina (24%), and CvHV2 was isolated from eye swabs from 8 animals. Virus was not isolated from clinically unaffected animals but was detected by PCR in eye swab samples from five of them. The viral activity, assessed by the ability to cause a cytopathic effect in cell culture, increased with the severity of clinical symptoms, but in severe clinical cases, virus was absent and secondary bacterial infections were dominant. Moraxella sp. isolates were obtained from seven animals, and those from two animals were identified as Moraxella bovoculi. Staphylococcus aureus, Streptococcus sp., and Arcanobacterium pyogenes were also isolated. It is concluded that CvHV2, which is endemic in reindeer, can cause IKC, probably most commonly as a primary infection of calves. This can be a very painful and devastating disease of economic importance for reindeer herders. This is the first report of CvHV2 as the primary agent of IKC in reindeer. This is also the first isolation of this virus in reindeer under natural herding conditions.

* Corresponding author. Mailing address: Section of Arctic Veterinary Medicine, Department of Food Safety and Infection Biology, The Norwegian School of Veterinary Science, Stakkevollveien 23b, NO 9010 Tromsø, Norway. Phone: 47 77665400. Fax: 47 77694911. E-mail: morten.tryland{at}veths.no

{triangledown} Published ahead of print on 2 September 2009.

Journal of Clinical Microbiology, November 2009, p. 3707-3713, Vol. 47, No. 11
0095-1137/09/$08.00+0     doi:10.1128/JCM.01198-09
Copyright © 2009, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.





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