Novel Polyomavirus associated with Brain Tumors in Free-Ranging Raccoons, Western United States - - Emerging Infectious Disease journal - CDC

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Novel Polyomavirus associated with Brain Tumors in Free-Ranging Raccoons, Western United States - - Emerging Infectious Disease journal - CDC




Table of Contents
Volume 19, Number 1–January 2013

Research

Novel Polyomavirus associated with Brain Tumors in Free-Ranging Raccoons, Western United States

Article Contents

• Materials and Methods
• Results
• Discussion
• Acknowledgments
• References
• Figure 1
• Figure 2
• Figure 3
• Figure 4
• Figure 5
• Figure 6
• Technical Appendix  [331 KB - 2 pages]
• Suggested Citation

Florante N. Dela Cruz, Federico Giannitti, Linlin Li, Leslie W. Woods, Luis Del Valle, Eric Delwart, and Patricia A. Pesavento 

Author affiliations: Author affiliations: University of California, Davis, Davis, California, USA (F.N. Dela Cruz, Jr., F. Giannitti, L.W. Woods, P.A. Pesavento); Blood Systems Research Institute, San Francisco, California, USA (L. Li, E. Delwart); Louisiana State University, New Orleans, Louisiana, USA (L. Del Valle); University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco (E. Delwart)

Suggested citation for this article

Abstract

Tumors of any type are exceedingly rare in raccoons. High-grade brain tumors, consistently located in the frontal lobes and olfactory tracts, were detected in 10 raccoons during March 2010–May 2012 in California and Oregon, suggesting an emerging, infectious origin. We have identified a candidate etiologic agent, dubbed raccoon polyomavirus, that was present in the tumor tissue of all affected animals but not in tissues from 20 unaffected animals. Southern blot hybridization and rolling circle amplification showed the episomal viral genome in the tumors. The multifunctional nuclear protein large T-antigen was detectable by immunohistochemical analyses in a subset of neoplastic cells. Raccoon polyomavirus may contribute to the development of malignant brain tumors of raccoons.