Evidence map›Paper›PMID 40601710›Full record

ArticlePloS one2025

Predator-prey transmission of a gammaherpesvirus from Asian badgers (Meles leucurus) to endangered Amur tigers (Panthera tigris altaica).

Martin Gilbert, Malcolm A M Hill, Leah Y N Cheung, Patti K Kiser, Ivan V Seryodkin, Dale G Miquelle, John M Goodrich, Nadezhda Sulikhan, Olga Uphyrkina, Mikhail Goncharuk and 2 more

Abstract read
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In one paragraph

Article in PloS one, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
0citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

0 citing papers in PubMed.

No citing paper in PubMed yet.

4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

12 authors.

Martin GilbertCornell K. Lisa Yang Center for Wildlife Health, Cornell University, Ithaca, New York, United States of America.
Malcolm A M HillDepartment of Microbiology & Immunology, Western University, London, Ontario, Canada.
Leah Y N CheungDepartment of Microbiology & Immunology, Western University, London, Ontario, Canada.
Patti K KiserDepartment of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, Western University, London, Ontario, Canada.
Ivan V SeryodkinPacific Geographical Institute, Far Eastern Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Vladivostok, Russia.
Dale G MiquelleWildlife Conservation Society, Bronx, New York, United States of America.
John M GoodrichPanthera, New York, United States of America.
Nadezhda SulikhanFederal Scientific Center of the East Asia Terrestrial Biodiversity, Far Eastern Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Vladivostok, Russia.
Olga UphyrkinaFederal Scientific Center of the East Asia Terrestrial Biodiversity, Far Eastern Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Vladivostok, Russia.
Mikhail GoncharukLazovskii State Nature Zapovednik, Primorskii Krai, Russia.
Linda KerleyZoological Society of London, London, United Kingdom.
Ryan M TroyerDepartment of Microbiology & Immunology, Western University, London, Ontario, Canada.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8908-5853

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

We sought to identify herpesviruses in wild Amur tigers (Panthera tigris altaica) of the Russian Far East in and near the Sikhote-Alin Biosphere Zapovednik protected area. We used multiple herpesvirus consensus PCRs targeting the glycoprotein B and DNA polymerase genes followed by DNA sequencing to test blood samples collected over a 22-year period. We found identical herpesvirus sequences in 3 of 41 tigers by consensus PCR and 8 of 41 tigers (19.5%) using a virus-specific PCR. Persistent infection was demonstrated in a tiger that remained virus DNA-positive in three blood samples over a 2.5-year period. Surprisingly, the viral DNA sequence present in tigers had 98.8% identity to mustelid gammaherpesvirus 1 (MusGHV1) commonly found in European badgers (Meles meles), which do not range to the Russian Far East. We then tested 69 blood samples from 11 other carnivore species collected in this region and found that 81.0% (17/21) of Asian badgers (Meles leucurus), but no other species, had MusGHV1 sequences with 99.8-100% identity to those found in tigers. Interaction between Amur tigers and Asian badgers is supported by previous studies demonstrating that badgers are a common prey species for tigers in this region. Taken together, these results are consistent with the interpretation that a strain of MusGHV1 common in Asian badgers was transmitted via predator-prey interactions to Amur tigers. While gammaherpesviruses are generally thought to exhibit strong host species-specificity, our results present an example of cross-species transmission and one of the first examples, to our knowledge, of gammaherpesvirus predator-prey transmission. In addition, we identified novel gammaherpesviruses in sable (Martes zibellina), Asiatic black bear (Ursus thibetanus), and brown bear (Ursus arctos).

Indexed as

Endangered SpeciesGammaherpesvirinaeHerpesviridae InfectionsMustelidaePredatory BehaviorTigersAnimalsDNA, ViralPhylogenyDNA, Viral

Identifiers

PMID40601710
PMCPMC12221012

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Registered trials

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.