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Journal article
Unexpected Pathogen Diversity Detected in Australian Avifauna Highlights Potential Biosecurity Challenges
Viruses, Vol.15(1), pp.1-22
2023
Abstract
Birds may act as hosts for numerous pathogens, including members of the family Chlamydiaceae, beak and feather disease virus (BFDV), avipoxviruses, Columbid alphaherpesvirus 1 (CoAHV1) and Psittacid alphaherpesvirus 1 (PsAHV1), all of which are a significant biosecurity concern in Australia. While Chlamydiaceae and BFDV have previously been detected in Australian avian taxa, the prevalence and host range of avipoxviruses, CoAHV1 and PsAHV1 in Australian birds remain undetermined. To better understand the occurrence of these pathogens, we screened 486 wild birds (kingfisher, parrot, pigeon and raptor species) presented to two wildlife hospitals between May 2019 and December 2021. Utilising various qPCR assays, we detected PsAHV1 for the first time in wild Australian birds (37/486; 7.61%), in addition to BFDV (163/468; 33.54%), Chlamydiaceae (98/468; 20.16%), avipoxviruses (46/486; 9.47%) and CoAHV1 (43/486; 8.85%). Phylogenetic analysis revealed that BFDV sequences detected from birds in this study cluster within two predominant superclades, infecting both psittacine and non-psittacine species. However, BFDV disease manifestation was only observed in psittacine species. All Avipoxvirus sequences clustered together and were identical to other global reference strains. Similarly, PsAHV1 sequences from this study were detected from a series of novel hosts (apart from psittacine species) and identical to sequences detected from Brazilian psittacine species, raising significant biosecurity concerns, particularly for endangered parrot recovery programs. Overall, these results highlight the high pathogen diversity in wild Australian birds, the ecology of these pathogens in potential natural reservoirs, and the spillover potential of these pathogens into novel host species in which these agents cause disease.
Details
- Title
- Unexpected Pathogen Diversity Detected in Australian Avifauna Highlights Potential Biosecurity Challenges
- Authors
- Vasilli Kasimov (Author) - University of the Sunshine Coast, Queensland, School of Science, Technology and EngineeringMichelle Wille (Author) - The University of SydneySubir Sarker (Author) - La Trobe UniversityYalun Dong (Author) - University of the Sunshine Coast, Queensland, School of Science, Technology and EngineeringRenfu Shao (Author) - University of the Sunshine Coast, Queensland, School of Science, Technology and EngineeringClancy Hall (Author) - University of the Sunshine Coast, Queensland, School of Science, Technology and EngineeringDominique Potvin (Author) - University of the Sunshine Coast, Queensland, School of Science, Technology and EngineeringGabriel Conroy (Author) - University of the Sunshine Coast, Queensland, School of Science, Technology and EngineeringLudovica Valenza (Author) - Australia Zoo Wildlife Hospital (Australia)Amber Gillett (Author) - Australia Zoo Wildlife Hospital (Australia)Peter Timms (Author) - University of the Sunshine Coast, Queensland, Centre for BioinnovationMartina Jelocnik (Corresponding Author) - University of the Sunshine Coast, Queensland, Centre for Bioinnovation
- Publication details
- Viruses, Vol.15(1), pp.1-22
- Publisher
- MDPI AG
- Date published
- 2023
- DOI
- 10.3390/v15010143
- ISSN
- 1999-4915
- Copyright note
- © 2023 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).
- Grants
- Viruses of a Feather: Investigating prevalence and genetic identity of Beak and Feather disease and Herpes viruses in birds from South-East Queensland, 0980027137, Birds Queensland (Australia)
- Organisation Unit
- GeneCology Research Centre - Legacy; Academic Support Unit; School of Science, Technology and Engineering; Centre for Bioinnovation
- Language
- English
- Record Identifier
- 99696798502621
- Output Type
- Journal article
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