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Experimental infections in red-legged partridges reveal differences in host competence between West Nile and Usutu virus strains from Southern Spain

INTRODUCTION: West Nile virus (WNV) and Usutu virus (USUV) are emerging zoonotic arboviruses sharing the same life cycle with mosquitoes as vectors and wild birds as reservoir hosts. The main objective of this study was to characterize the pathogenicity and course of infection of two viral strains (...

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Autores principales: Llorente, Francisco, Gutiérrez-López, Rafael, Pérez-Ramirez, Elisa, Sánchez-Seco, María Paz, Herrero, Laura, Jiménez-Clavero, Miguel Ángel, Vázquez, Ana
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: Frontiers Media S.A. 2023
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10308050/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/37396301
http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fcimb.2023.1163467
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author Llorente, Francisco
Gutiérrez-López, Rafael
Pérez-Ramirez, Elisa
Sánchez-Seco, María Paz
Herrero, Laura
Jiménez-Clavero, Miguel Ángel
Vázquez, Ana
author_facet Llorente, Francisco
Gutiérrez-López, Rafael
Pérez-Ramirez, Elisa
Sánchez-Seco, María Paz
Herrero, Laura
Jiménez-Clavero, Miguel Ángel
Vázquez, Ana
author_sort Llorente, Francisco
collection PubMed
description INTRODUCTION: West Nile virus (WNV) and Usutu virus (USUV) are emerging zoonotic arboviruses sharing the same life cycle with mosquitoes as vectors and wild birds as reservoir hosts. The main objective of this study was to characterize the pathogenicity and course of infection of two viral strains (WNV/08 and USUV/09) co-circulating in Southern Spain in a natural host, the red-legged partridge (Alectoris rufa), and to compare the results with those obtained with the reference strain WNV/NY99. METHODS: WNV inoculated birds were monitored for clinical and analytical parameters (viral load, viremia, and antibodies) for 15 days post-inoculation. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION: Partridges inoculated with WNV/NY99 and WNV/08 strains showed clinical signs such as weight loss, ruffled feathers, and lethargy, which were not observed in USUV/09-inoculated individuals. Although statistically significant differences in mortality were not observed, partridges inoculated with WNV strains developed significantly higher viremia and viral loads in blood than those inoculated with USUV. In addition, the viral genome was detected in organs and feathers of WNV-inoculated partridges, while it was almost undetectable in USUV-inoculated ones. These experimental results indicate that red-legged partridges are susceptible to the assayed Spanish WNV with pathogenicity similar to that observed for the prototype WNV/NY99 strain. By contrast, the USUV/09 strain was not pathogenic for this bird species and elicited extremely low viremia levels, demonstrating that red-legged partridges are not a competent host for the transmission of this USUV strain.
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spelling pubmed-103080502023-06-30 Experimental infections in red-legged partridges reveal differences in host competence between West Nile and Usutu virus strains from Southern Spain Llorente, Francisco Gutiérrez-López, Rafael Pérez-Ramirez, Elisa Sánchez-Seco, María Paz Herrero, Laura Jiménez-Clavero, Miguel Ángel Vázquez, Ana Front Cell Infect Microbiol Cellular and Infection Microbiology INTRODUCTION: West Nile virus (WNV) and Usutu virus (USUV) are emerging zoonotic arboviruses sharing the same life cycle with mosquitoes as vectors and wild birds as reservoir hosts. The main objective of this study was to characterize the pathogenicity and course of infection of two viral strains (WNV/08 and USUV/09) co-circulating in Southern Spain in a natural host, the red-legged partridge (Alectoris rufa), and to compare the results with those obtained with the reference strain WNV/NY99. METHODS: WNV inoculated birds were monitored for clinical and analytical parameters (viral load, viremia, and antibodies) for 15 days post-inoculation. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION: Partridges inoculated with WNV/NY99 and WNV/08 strains showed clinical signs such as weight loss, ruffled feathers, and lethargy, which were not observed in USUV/09-inoculated individuals. Although statistically significant differences in mortality were not observed, partridges inoculated with WNV strains developed significantly higher viremia and viral loads in blood than those inoculated with USUV. In addition, the viral genome was detected in organs and feathers of WNV-inoculated partridges, while it was almost undetectable in USUV-inoculated ones. These experimental results indicate that red-legged partridges are susceptible to the assayed Spanish WNV with pathogenicity similar to that observed for the prototype WNV/NY99 strain. By contrast, the USUV/09 strain was not pathogenic for this bird species and elicited extremely low viremia levels, demonstrating that red-legged partridges are not a competent host for the transmission of this USUV strain. Frontiers Media S.A. 2023-06-15 /pmc/articles/PMC10308050/ /pubmed/37396301 http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fcimb.2023.1163467 Text en Copyright © 2023 Llorente, Gutiérrez-López, Pérez-Ramirez, Sánchez-Seco, Herrero, Jiménez-Clavero and Vázquez https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) and the copyright owner(s) are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
spellingShingle Cellular and Infection Microbiology
Llorente, Francisco
Gutiérrez-López, Rafael
Pérez-Ramirez, Elisa
Sánchez-Seco, María Paz
Herrero, Laura
Jiménez-Clavero, Miguel Ángel
Vázquez, Ana
Experimental infections in red-legged partridges reveal differences in host competence between West Nile and Usutu virus strains from Southern Spain
title Experimental infections in red-legged partridges reveal differences in host competence between West Nile and Usutu virus strains from Southern Spain
title_full Experimental infections in red-legged partridges reveal differences in host competence between West Nile and Usutu virus strains from Southern Spain
title_fullStr Experimental infections in red-legged partridges reveal differences in host competence between West Nile and Usutu virus strains from Southern Spain
title_full_unstemmed Experimental infections in red-legged partridges reveal differences in host competence between West Nile and Usutu virus strains from Southern Spain
title_short Experimental infections in red-legged partridges reveal differences in host competence between West Nile and Usutu virus strains from Southern Spain
title_sort experimental infections in red-legged partridges reveal differences in host competence between west nile and usutu virus strains from southern spain
topic Cellular and Infection Microbiology
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10308050/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/37396301
http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fcimb.2023.1163467
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