# Identification of the First CHeRI Orbivirus 3–5 Strain Isolated from a Dead Farmed White-Tailed Deer (Odocoileus virginianus) Whose Death Had Been Attributed to an Infection by Mule Deerpox Virus

## TL;DR

Scientists discovered a new strain of CHeRI orbivirus in a farmed white-tailed deer in Florida, which was previously thought to be infected with mule deerpox virus.

## Contribution

This is the first isolation of a CHeRI orbivirus without a co-infecting virus in a farmed white-tailed deer.

## Key findings

- A new strain, CHeRI orbivirus 3–5, was isolated from a dead farmed white-tailed deer.
- Phylogenetic analysis confirmed it as the fifth strain of CHeRI orbivirus 3 species.
- No deerpox virus was detected in the sample, unlike previous isolations.

## Abstract

We report the isolation and coding complete genome sequences of a new CHeRI orbivirus from the spleen of a dead farmed white-tailed deer in Florida whose death was attributed to an infection by mule deerpox virus. Phylogenetic and genetic analyses support this new virus as the fifth strain of the CHeRI orbivirus 3 species, and we designated it CHeRI orbivirus 3–5. While our previous detections and isolations of CHeRI orbiviruses were from deer spleens that also contained epizootic hemorrhagic disease virus-2, or in one case, Hardee County ephemerovirus 1, no deerpox virus was isolated from the spleen of the animal in this report, marking the first time we have isolated a CHeRI orbivirus without a co-infecting agent.