Johnston Atoll Virus (Quaranfil Group) from Ornithodoros Capensis (Ixodoidea: Argasidae) Infesting a Gannet Colony in New Zealand

Abstract

Ten strains of Johnston Atoll (JA) virus were isolated from Ornithodoros capensis collected in a Gannet (Sula bassana serrator) colony in New Zealand. Its sensitivity to ether and sodium deoxycholate were confirmed and it was shown to have an RNA genome. It multiplied in day-old chicks but, unlike the prototype virus, it was not pathogenic for them. Transmission experiments and the high incidence of birds with neutralizing antibody indicate that the virus is maintained in the colony by a cycle involving ticks and Gannets. This is the first recorded tickborne arbovirus in New Zealand and extends the known range of JA virus from the tropics into the temperate zone.

Quaranfil, Johnston Atoll, and Lake Chad Viruses Are Novel Members of the Family Orthomyxoviridae

“…Multiple strains have subsequently been isolated from eastern Australia, New Zealand, and Hawaii (3). No human disease has been associated with JAV, but it is lethal to newborn and weanling mice after i.c.…”

Cyclic Avian Mass Mortality in the Northeastern United States Is Associated with a Novel Orthomyxovirus

“…For example, Ixodes uriae, a hard tick species that is present in both southern and northern circumpolar regions where the two outbreaks have occurred (32), has previously been recovered from pelagic birds that undergo transoceanic migrations between Australasia and North America (83,84). Similarly, JAV was first isolated in Johnston Atoll in the north Pacific (25) and later from seabird colonies in Hawaii (28), Australia (29), and New Zealand (30), indicating movement of quaranjaviruses across large expanses of the Pacific Ocean. Nevertheless, until full genome comparisons between WFBV and CyRV are performed, the exact nature of their relationship will remain unknown.…”

“…In general, most bird-associated orthomyxoviruses, such as FLUAV, along with the historically isolated but recently characterized QRFV and JAV (23), appear to predominately cause subclinical infections in their normal avian hosts (5,30,33). In contrast, WFBV may cause fatal infections in wild birds.…”

“…Although these three viruses were only recently recognized as orthomyxoviruses (23), they were originally isolated in the 1950s and 1960s: QRFV in Quaranfil, Egypt, in 1953; JAV in Sand Island, Johnston Atoll, in the North Pacific, in 1964; and LKCV in Lake Chad, Nigeria, in 1969 (24,25). The geographic distribution of QFRV appears to be widespread, stretching across Africa, the Middle East, and Asia (26,27), as does JAV, which in addition to Johnston Atoll has been reportedly isolated in Hawaii (28), Australia (29), and New Zealand (30). In contrast, the natural distribution of LKCV is unknown, as its geographical range can only be inferred from the single isolation of the prototype strain in Nigeria (23).…”

“…However, unlike THOV and DHOV that primarily circulate in transmission cycles involving hard ticks (family Ixodidae) and mammals (14), the quaranjaviruses appear to predominately cycle in soft ticks (family Argasidae) and aquatic birds (23). As soft ticks are often found in tropical and subtropical habitats that contain very high population densities of nesting birds (31,32), the quaranjaviruses have been associated primarily with colonial nesting species, such as gannets, terns, and herons, or other communal birds, such as weavers (23,25,30,33).…”