Evidence of proviral clearance following postpartum transmission of an ovine lentivirus.

Lentiviral transmission by transfer of infected colostrum and/or milk is considered to be highly efficient. In this study, postpartum transmission of ovine progressive pneumonia virus (OPPV) from 10 naturally infected ewes to their 23 lambs was followed from the perinatal period throughout a four-year period. The lambs were allowed to suckle from their dam from birth through 32 weeks of age. Virus was tracked by virus isolation, quantitative PCR (qPCR), and anti-OPPV antibody responses as measured by cELISA. Cell-associated OPPV was isolated from colostrum/milk cells in 7 out of 10 ewes and provirus envelope (env) loads ranged 8 to 10(5) copies/mug DNA in colostrum/milk cells from the 10 ewes using qPCR. Provirus env loads were also detected in the peripheral circulation of 21 lambs at 8 weeks and two lambs at 22 weeks. The qPCR product at 8 weeks was confirmed as the transmembrane (tm) gene of OPPV by cloning and sequencing. Both cELISA titers ranging from 325 to 3125 and cross-neutralizing antibody titers ranging from 6 to 162 to seven different OPPV strains were found in the colostrum of the 10 ewes. Furthermore, cELISA titers in serum from lambs remained detectable through 32 weeks following the clearance of provirus at 24 weeks. After 32 weeks, both provirus and anti-OPPV antibody responses have subsequently remained undetectable through 4 years of age. These data suggest the clearance of cell-associated lentiviruses from lamb circulation after passive transfer of antibody via colostrum.

Seven new ovine progressive pneumonia virus (OPPV) field isolates from Dubois Idaho sheep comprise part of OPPV clade II based on surface envelope glycoprotein (SU) sequences.

Seven new ovine progressive pneumonia virus (OPPV) field isolates were derived from colostrum and milk of 10 naturally OPPV-infected sheep from the US Sheep Experiment Station in Dubois, Idaho, USA. Sixteen sequences of the surface envelope glycoprotein (SU) from these seven Dubois OPPV field isolates and SU sequence from OPPV WLC1 were obtained, aligned with published SRLV SU sequences, and analyzed using phylogenetic analysis using parsimony (PAUP). Percent nucleotide identity in SU was greater than 95.8% among clones from individual Dubois OPPVs and ranged from 85.5 to 93.8% between different Dubois OPPV clones. SU sequences from Dubois OPPVs and WLC1 OPPV had significantly higher percent nucleotide identity to SU sequences from the North American OPPVs (85/34 and S93) than caprine-arthritis encephalitis virus (CAEVs) or MVVs. PAUP analysis also showed that SU sequences from the Dubois OPPVs and OPPV WLC1 grouped with other North American OPPVs (85/34 and S93) with a bootstrap value of 100 and formed one OPPV clade II group. In addition, Dubois and WLC1 SU amino acid sequences had significantly higher identity to SU sequences from North American OPPVs than CAEV or MVV. These data indicate that the seven new Dubois OPPV field isolates along with WLC1 OPPV are part of the OPPV clade II and are distinct from CAEVs and MVVs.