Papillomavirus - Animal Papillomaviruses

Animal Papillomaviruses

Individual papillomavirus types tend to be highly adapted to replication in a single animal species. In one study, researchers swabbed the forehead skin of a variety of zoo animals and used PCR to amplify any papillomavirus DNA that might be present. Although a wide variety of papillomavirus sequences were identified in the study, the authors found little evidence for inter-species transmission. Interestingly, one zookeeper was found to be transiently positive for a chimpanzee-specific papillomavirus sequence. However, the authors note that the chimpanzee-specific papillomavirus sequence could have been the result of surface contamination of the zookeeper's skin, as opposed to productive infection.

Cottontail rabbit papillomavirus (CRPV) can cause protuberant warts (see images) in its native host, the North American rabbit genus Sylvilagus. These horn-like warts may be the original basis for the urban legends of the American antlered rabbit the Jackalope and European Wolpertinger. European domestic rabbits (genus Oryctolagus) can be transiently infected with CRPV in a laboratory setting. However, since European domestic rabbits do not produce infectious progeny virus, they are considered an incidental or "dead-end" host for CRPV.

Inter-species transmission has also been documented for bovine papillomavirus (BPV) type 1. In its natural host (cattle), BPV-1 induces large fibrous skin warts. BPV-1 infection of horses, which are an incidental host for the virus, can lead to the development of benign tumors known as sarcoids. The agricultural significance of BPV-1 spurred a successful effort to develop a vaccine against the virus.

A few reports have identified papillomaviruses in smaller rodents, such as Syrian hamsters, the African multimammate rat and the Eurasian harvest mouse. However, there are no papillomaviruses known to be capable of infecting laboratory mice. The lack of a tractable mouse model for papillomavirus infection has been a major limitation for laboratory investigation of papillomaviruses.