Virological Sampling of Inaccessible Wildlife with Drones
Jemma L. Geoghegan,
Vanessa Pirotta,
Erin Harvey,
Alastair Smith,
Jan P. Buchmann,
Martin Ostrowski,
John-Sebastian Eden,
Robert Harcourt,
Edward C. Holmes
Affiliations
Jemma L. Geoghegan
Department of Biological Sciences, Macquarie University, Sydney, NSW 2109, Australia
Vanessa Pirotta
Department of Biological Sciences, Macquarie University, Sydney, NSW 2109, Australia
Erin Harvey
Marie Bashir Institute for Infectious Diseases and Biosecurity, Charles Perkins Centre, School of Life and Environmental Sciences and Sydney Medical School, The University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW 2006, Australia
Alastair Smith
Heliguy Scientific Pty Ltd., Sydney, NSW 2204, Australia
Jan P. Buchmann
Marie Bashir Institute for Infectious Diseases and Biosecurity, Charles Perkins Centre, School of Life and Environmental Sciences and Sydney Medical School, The University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW 2006, Australia
Martin Ostrowski
Department of Molecular Sciences, Macquarie University, Sydney, NSW 2109, Australia
John-Sebastian Eden
Marie Bashir Institute for Infectious Diseases and Biosecurity, Charles Perkins Centre, School of Life and Environmental Sciences and Sydney Medical School, The University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW 2006, Australia
Robert Harcourt
Department of Biological Sciences, Macquarie University, Sydney, NSW 2109, Australia
Edward C. Holmes
Marie Bashir Institute for Infectious Diseases and Biosecurity, Charles Perkins Centre, School of Life and Environmental Sciences and Sydney Medical School, The University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW 2006, Australia
There is growing interest in characterizing the viromes of diverse mammalian species, particularly in the context of disease emergence. However, little is known about virome diversity in aquatic mammals, in part due to difficulties in sampling. We characterized the virome of the exhaled breath (or blow) of the Eastern Australian humpback whale (Megaptera novaeangliae). To achieve an unbiased survey of virome diversity, a meta-transcriptomic analysis was performed on 19 pooled whale blow samples collected via a purpose-built Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV, or drone) approximately 3 km off the coast of Sydney, Australia during the 2017 winter annual northward migration from Antarctica to northern Australia. To our knowledge, this is the first time that UAVs have been used to sample viruses. Despite the relatively small number of animals surveyed in this initial study, we identified six novel virus species from five viral families. This work demonstrates the potential of UAVs in studies of virus disease, diversity, and evolution.
