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Genetic and ultrastructural characterization of a European isolate of the fatal endotheliotropic elephant herpesvirus

Robert Koch-Institut, Nordufer 20, 13353 Berlin, Germany¹
Institut für Lebensmittel, Arzneimittel und Tierseuchen, Invalidenstr. 60, 10557 Berlin, Germany²
Institut für Veterinär-Pathologie der Freien Universität Berlin, Straße 518, Nr. 15, 14163 Berlin, Germany³
Zoologischer Garten Berlin AG, Hardenbergplatz 8, 10787 Berlin, Germany⁴

Author for correspondence: B. Ehlers. Fax +49 1888 754 2598. e-mail EhlersB{at}RKI.DE

A male Asian elephant (Elephas maximus) died at the Berlin zoological gardens in August 1998 of systemic infection with the novel endotheliotropic elephant herpesvirus (ElHV-1). This virus causes a fatal haemorrhagic disease in Asian elephants, the so-called endothelial inclusion body disease, as reported from North American zoological gardens. In the present work, ElHV-1 was visualized ultrastructurally in affected organ material. Furthermore, a gene block comprising the complete glycoprotein B (gB) and DNA polymerase (DPOL) genes as well as two partial genes was amplified by PCR-based genome walking and sequenced. The gene content and arrangement were similar to those of members of the Betaherpesvirinae. However, phylogenetic analysis with gB and DPOL consistently revealed a very distant relationship to the betaherpesviruses. Therefore, ElHV-1 may be a member of a new genus or even a new herpesvirus subfamily. The sequence information generated was used to set up a nested-PCR assay for diagnosis of suspected cases of endothelial inclusion body disease. Furthermore, it will aid in the development of antibody-based detection methods and of vaccination strategies against this fatal herpesvirus infection in the endangered Asian elephant.

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