Samples on which a PRNT was carried out and/or those that had a positive cELISA result.

<p>NT; not tested.</p><p>NA; not available.</p><p>Inc.; inconclusive results.</p><p>^aCollection B.</p><p>^bCollection C.</p><p>The table includes animal species, date of sampling, cELISA results for each sample plus their corresponding S/N % values and PRNT results with antibody titres for a selection of the samples.</p

List of serum samples used in this study, detailing number of individual species and samples tested with cELISA and PRNT.

<p>The two tests were carried out on archived sera collected from exotic wildlife species in the <i>Bovidae</i>, <i>Cervidae</i>, <i>Suidae</i>, <i>Giraffidae</i>, <i>Camelidae</i> and <i>Elephantidae</i> families. The sera were from one to several individual animals of each species, All but one were tested with cELISA, and a random selection of cELISA positives and negatives were further investigated using PRNT.</p

First SBV seroconversion detected testing serial blood samples from 14 individuals of 10 animal species from Collection A using cELISA.

<p>NA; not available.</p><p>^aJuvenile elephants.</p><p>^bInconclusive.</p><p>^cThe cELISA result was also confirmed by PRNT.</p><p>First SBV seroconversion detected testing serial blood samples from 14 individuals of 10 animal species from Collection A using cELISA.</p

Electron microscopic analysis of cetacean poxviruses.

<p>Viral particles from tattoo lesions of a juvenile male striped common dolphin (c) and a juvenile female harbour porpoise (d). By their size and ovoid shape they resemble parapoxviruses, such as the sheep parapoxvirus displayed for comparison (a). Their surface morphology, however, more resembles a ball of string, typical of orthopoxviruses (b). (Original magnification 92,000x; <i>Bar = 100nm</i>)</p

Phylogenetic analysis of the polymerase gene of cetacean poxviruses and reference sequences available from GenBank representing the known genera in the sub-family Chordopoxvirinae.

<p>The phylogenetic tree was constructed by MEGA 5 software and the confidence levels were calculated using bootstrapping (2000 replicates). Only bootstrap values greater than 50 are shown. As seen in the overview (Fig 4a), cetacean poxviruses do not cluster with any other known genus, substantiating the notion that they are to be regarded as a separate one. While parts of the overall topology obtain a relatively low statistical support (after extensive bootstrapping) it resembles the established classification of poxvirus genera and the differences in sequences (both in % and reflected in branch length) support this notion. In more detail (Fig 4b) and taking cetacean poxviruses from other published studies [<a href="http://www.plosone.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0124315#pone.0124315.ref011" target="_blank">11</a>,<a href="http://www.plosone.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0124315#pone.0124315.ref015" target="_blank">15</a>] into account, six separate species/clusters of poxviruses are recognisable.</p

Haematoxylin and eosin staining of skin sections positive for cetacean poxviruses by TEM and PCR.

<p>Focal areas of cytoplasmic vacuolation are within the stratum intermedium of the skin (arrows).</p

Conventional, gel-based PCR-assays for the detection rabies virus.

<p>Conventional, gel-based PCR-assays for the detection rabies virus.</p

Conventional, gel-based PCR-assays for the detection of lyssavirus species other than RABV.

<p>Conventional, gel-based PCR-assays for the detection of lyssavirus species other than RABV.</p

Real-time PCR-assays for the detection of lyssavirus species other than RABV.

<p>Real-time PCR-assays for the detection of lyssavirus species other than RABV.</p

Real-time PCR-assays for the detection of RABV.

<p>Real-time PCR-assays for the detection of RABV.</p