Screening of Eurasian Tundra Reindeer for Viral Sequences by Next-Generation Sequencing

Javier Sánchez Romano, Anna Omazic, Mikael Leijon, Åsa Hagström, Morten Tryland, Juha Kantanen, Tiina Reilas, Ulrika Rockström, Valery Fedorov and Ann Albihn
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Javier Sánchez Romano: Arctic Infection Biology, Department of Arctic and Marine Biology, UiT The Arctic University of Norway, N-9019 Tromsø, Norway
Anna Omazic: Department of Chemistry, Environment and Feed Hygiene, National Veterinary Institute, SE-751 89 Uppsala, Sweden
Mikael Leijon: Department of Microbiology, National Veterinary Institute, SE-751 89 Uppsala, Sweden
Åsa Hagström: Department of Microbiology, National Veterinary Institute, SE-751 89 Uppsala, Sweden
Morten Tryland: Arctic Infection Biology, Department of Arctic and Marine Biology, UiT The Arctic University of Norway, N-9019 Tromsø, Norway
Juha Kantanen: Natural Resources Institute Finland (Luke), FI-31600 Jokioinen, Finland
Tiina Reilas: Natural Resources Institute Finland (Luke), FI-31600 Jokioinen, Finland
Ulrika Rockström: Farm and Animal Health, SE-753 23 Uppsala, Sweden
Valery Fedorov: Yakut Scientific Research Institute of Agriculture, 677001 Yakutsk, Russia
Ann Albihn: Department of Chemistry, Environment and Feed Hygiene, National Veterinary Institute, SE-751 89 Uppsala, Sweden

IJERPH, 2021, vol. 18, issue 12, 1-20

Abstract: Reindeer husbandry is essential for the livelihood and culture of indigenous people in the Arctic. Parts of the herding areas are also used as pastures for farm animals, facilitating potential transmission of viruses between species. Following the Covid-19 pandemic, viruses circulating in the wild are receiving increased attention, since they might pose a potential threat to human health. Climate change will influence the prevalence of infectious diseases of both humans and animals. The aim of this study was to detect known and previously unknown viruses in Eurasian tundra reindeer. In total, 623 nasal and 477 rectal swab samples were collected from reindeer herds in Fennoscandia, Iceland, and Eastern Russia during 2016–2019. Next-generation sequencing analysis and BLAST-homology searches indicated the presence of viruses of domesticated and wild animals, such as bovine viral diarrhea virus, bovine papillomavirus, alcephaline herpesvirus 1 and 2, deer mastadenovirus B, bovine rotavirus, and roe deer picobirnavirus. Several viral species previously found in reindeer and some novel species were detected, although the clinical relevance of these viruses in reindeer is largely unknown. These results indicate that it should be possible to find emerging viruses of relevance for both human and animal health using reindeer as a sentinel species.

Keywords: Rangifer tarandus; NGS; virus screening; orthobunyavirus; arenavirus; flavivirus; herpesvirus; picornavirus (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
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