Frequent cross-species transmission of parvoviruses among diverse carnivore hosts

Abstract

Although parvoviruses are commonly described in domestic carnivores, little is known about their biodiversity in nondomestic species. A phylogenetic analysis of VP2 gene sequences from puma, coyote, gray wolf, bobcat, raccoon, and striped skunk revealed two major groups related to either feline panleukopenia virus ("FPV-like") or canine parvovirus ("CPV-like"). Cross-species transmission was commonplace, with multiple introductions into each host species but, with the exception of raccoons, relatively little evidence for onward transmission in nondomestic species.

Fig 1

Phylogenetic history (MCC tree) of carnivore parvoviruses inferred from 234 complete VP2 sequences. Clusters of viruses are labeled and colored according to host species (note that the division between CPV-2a, -2b, and -2c sequences is not shown in this figure). Hosts in the “Other” group, which represent singleton viruses, are lion, palm civet, monkey, and tiger. Because the tree was inferred using a relaxed molecular clock, all tip heights are scaled to the year of sampling. Posterior probability values of >0.9 at major nodes or which connect multiple species are indicated by an asterisk. A time scale in years is given by the x axis. The number of sequences from each species or antigenic group is as follows: FPV (cat, Felis catus), n = 52; CPV-2 (dog, Canis lupus familiaris), n = 7; CPV-2a (dog), n = 48; CPV-2b (dog), n = 28; CPV-2c (dog), n = 9; raccoon (Procyon lotor), n = 40; puma (Puma concolor), n = 16; coyote (Canis latrans), n = 9; mink (Neovison vison; mink enteritis virus [MEV]), n = 7; bobcat (Lynx rufus), n = 4; gray wolf (Canis lupus), n = 4; arctic fox (Vulpes lagopus; arbitrarily designated blue fox parvovirus [BFPV]), n = 3; striped skunk (Mephitis mephitis), n = 3; palm civet (Paradoxurus hermaphroditus), n = 1; tiger (Panthera tigris), n = 1; lion (Panthera leo), n = 1; and monkey (Macaca fascicularis or Macaca mulatta), n = 1.