Newlavirus, a Novel, Highly Prevalent, and Highly Diverse Protoparvovirus of Foxes (<em>Vulpes</em> spp.)
Marta Canuti,
Émilie Bouchard,
Bruce Rodrigues,
Hugh G. Whitney,
Marti Hopson,
Cornelia Gilroy,
Garry Stenson,
Suzanne C. Dufour,
Andrew S. Lang,
Joost T. P. Verhoeven
Affiliations
Marta Canuti
Department of Biology, Memorial University of Newfoundland, 232 Elizabeth Ave., St. John’s, NL A1B 3X9, Canada
Émilie Bouchard
Department of Veterinary Microbiology, Western College of Veterinary Medicine, University of Saskatchewan, 52 Campus Drive, Saskatoon, SK S7N 5B4, Canada
Bruce Rodrigues
Wildlife Division, Newfoundland and Labrador Department of Fisheries, Forestry, and Agriculture, P.O. Box 2007, Corner Brook, NL A2H 7S1, Canada
Hugh G. Whitney
Department of Biology, Memorial University of Newfoundland, 232 Elizabeth Ave., St. John’s, NL A1B 3X9, Canada
Marti Hopson
Atlantic Veterinary College, University of Prince Edward Island, 550 University Ave., Charlottetown, PE C1A 4P3, Canada
Cornelia Gilroy
Department of Pathology and Microbiology, Atlantic Veterinary College, University of Prince Edward Island, 550 University Ave., Charlottetown, PE C1A 4P3, Canada
Garry Stenson
Fisheries and Oceans Canada, Government of Canada, P.O. Box 5667, St. John’s, NL A1C 5X1, Canada
Suzanne C. Dufour
Department of Biology, Memorial University of Newfoundland, 232 Elizabeth Ave., St. John’s, NL A1B 3X9, Canada
Andrew S. Lang
Department of Biology, Memorial University of Newfoundland, 232 Elizabeth Ave., St. John’s, NL A1B 3X9, Canada
Joost T. P. Verhoeven
Department of Biology, Memorial University of Newfoundland, 232 Elizabeth Ave., St. John’s, NL A1B 3X9, Canada
The genus Protoparvovirus (family Parvoviridae) includes several viruses of carnivores. We describe a novel fox protoparvovirus, which we named Newlavirus as it was discovered in samples from Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada. Analysis of the full non-structural protein (NS1) sequence indicates that this virus is a previously uncharacterized species. Newlavirus showed high prevalence in foxes from both the mainland (Labrador, 54/137, 39.4%) and the island of Newfoundland (22/50, 44%) but was not detected in samples from other carnivores, including coyotes (n = 92), lynx (n = 58), martens (n = 146), mink (n = 47), ermines (n = 17), dogs (n = 48), and ringed (n = 4), harp (n = 6), bearded (n = 6), and harbor (n = 2) seals. Newlavirus was found at similar rates in stool and spleen (24/80, 30% vs. 59/152, 38.8%, p = 0.2) but at lower rates in lymph nodes (2/37, 5.4%, p < 0.01). Sequencing a fragment of approximately 750 nt of the capsid protein gene from 53 samples showed a high frequency of co-infection by more than one strain (33.9%), high genetic diversity with 13 genotypes with low sequence identities (70.5–87.8%), and no geographic segregation of strains. Given the high prevalence, high diversity, and the lack of identification in other species, foxes are likely the natural reservoir of Newlavirus, and further studies should investigate its distribution.
