ABSTRACT
A study aimed to determine the infection model that picobirnavirus (PBV) established in birds was conducted in a farm of greater rheas in Córdoba, Argentina. Analysis of stools collected during a longitudinal study involving seven birds provided evidence that PBV is acquired very early in life and establishes a persistent infection in the host, which is characterized by intermingled periods of high, low and silent viral activity. Genomic analysis indicated that the rheas excreted virus with nucleotide sequence identity between 90.5-100 % and that more than one PBV strain with different electropherotype profiles could be involve in the infection. This report provides the first evidence of persistent infection of PBV in birds. The natural history of PBV infection has begun to be understood, and it appears that asymptomatic PBV-infected mammals and birds could persistently excrete the virus in stool samples, contributing to wide circulation of the virus in the environment.
Subject(s)
Bird Diseases/pathology , Bird Diseases/virology , Picobirnavirus/pathogenicity , RNA Virus Infections/veterinary , Rheiformes/virology , Animals , Argentina , Coinfection/veterinary , Coinfection/virology , Feces/virology , Genotype , Longitudinal Studies , Picobirnavirus/classification , Picobirnavirus/genetics , Picobirnavirus/isolation & purification , RNA Virus Infections/virology , Sequence Analysis, DNAABSTRACT
Meat and skin from farmed ostriches are valuable products for European consumers. The EU regulations require that ostrich products deamed for export need to come from ostriches that are free of antibodies against Newcastle disease virus (avian paramxovirus type 1, aPMV-1). After the detection of antibodies against aPMV-1 in one of five ostrich farms in Namibia, attempts were made to isolate the causative virus. No aPMV-1 but an avian paramyxovirus type 3 (aPMV-3) was isolated from five pharyngeal/cloacal swabs of clinically healthy farmed Namibian ostriches. Subtype determination proved that all isolates are members of the subtype aPMV-3 of psittacine bird origin and were designated as aPMV-3b. In the haemagglutination inhibition test, the aPMV-3b isolates cross-reacted with aPMV-1. This allows the conclusion that the antibodies originally detected in sera of the ostriches are due to the cross-reaction with aPMV-3b, rather than to an infection with aPMV-1.To our knowledge, this is the first description of the occurrence of aPMV-3b in farmed ostriches.
