Meta-transcriptomic analysis of virus diversity in urban wild birds with paretic disease

Abstract

29Wild birds are major natural reservoirs and potential dispersers of a variety of infectious 30 diseases. As such, it is important to determine the diversity of viruses they carry and use this 31 information to help understand the potential risks of spill-over to humans, domestic animals, and 32 other wildlife. We investigated the potential viral causes of paresis in long-standing, but 33 undiagnosed disease syndromes in wild Australian birds. RNA from diseased birds was extracted 34 and pooled based on tissue type, host species and clinical manifestation for metagenomic 35 sequencing. Using a bulk and unbiased meta-transcriptomic approach, combined with careful 36 clinical investigation and histopathology, we identified a number of novel viruses from the 37 families Astroviridae, Picornaviridae, Polyomaviridae, Paramyxoviridae, Parvoviridae, 38 Flaviviridae, and Circoviridae in common urban wild birds including Australian magpies, 39 magpie lark, pied currawongs, Australian ravens, and rainbow lorikeets. In each case the 40 presence of the virus was confirmed by RT-PCR. These data revealed a number of candidate 41 viral pathogens that may contribute to coronary, skeletal muscle, vascular and neuropathology in 42 birds of the Corvidae and Artamidae families, and neuropathology in members of the 43 Psittaculidae. The existence of such a diverse virome in urban avian species highlights the 44 importance and challenges in elucidating the etiology and ecology of wildlife pathogens in urban 45 environments. This information will be increasingly important for managing disease risks and 46 conducting surveillance for potential viral threats to wildlife, livestock and human health. More 47

Novel hepaci- and pegi-like viruses in native Australian wildlife and non-human primates

“…Magpie-lark hepaci-like virus (MaHV) (Australian Registry of Wildlife Health No. 9585.8) was obtained from brain (RNASeq library VERT14) and heart samples (RNASeq library VERT 15) of an injured juvenile magpie-lark ( Grallina cyanoleuca ) collected at Warigee, NSW in 2013 ( Chang et al. 2020 ).…”

Meta-Transcriptomic Discovery of a Divergent Circovirus and a Chaphamaparvovirus in Captive Reptiles with Proliferative Respiratory Syndrome

“…For example, previous studies have indicated that Porcine circovirus 2 (PCV-2) associated diseases are augmented by concurrent viral infections such as Porcine parvovirus, and these viruses may serve as important cofactors in the pathogenesis of Porcine multisystemic wasting syndrome (PMWS) [ 61 ]. Similarly, Canine circovirus 1 (CaCV-1) and Canine parvovirus 2 (CPV-2) infection are linked to recurrent outbreaks of bloody diarrhea and sudden death in puppies [ 62 ], and a novel lorikeet chaphamaparvovirus coinfected with psittacine circovirus (beak and feather disease virus) in wild birds has been described [ 63 ]. Recently, a similar coexistence of Tasmanian devil-associated circovirus and a chaphamaparvovirus was identified in a Tasmania devil metagenomic virome study, but with no disease association [ 64 ].…”

Metagenomic identification of diverse animal hepaciviruses and pegiviruses

“…Similarly, rather than falling as a sister-group to those hepaciviruses sampled from placental mammals as expected under virus-host codivergence, it is notable that the marsupial hepaciviruses fall within the mammalian (eutherian) phylogenetic diversity. Finally, novel Pin pegivirus [25], isolated from a Common myna bird (Acridotheres tristis), falls within the diversity of mammalian pegiviruses. As this is the first avian pegivirus identified, it is possible that a distinct avian clade will be identified with increased sampling.…”

“…It is The copyright holder for this preprint this version posted May 17, 2020. ; https://doi.org/10.1101/2020.05.16.100149 doi: bioRxiv preprint that are in turn closely related to HCV. Despite the obvious clinical importance of HCV, its ultimate animal reservoir is unknown [22][23][24][25]. The placement of another primate (i.e.…”

“…The genus Pegivirus contains 11 defined virus species known to infect humans and variety of other mammals. In addition, a novel avian pegivirus was recently identified in a Common myna bird (Acridotheres tristis) [25]. Human pegivirus (HPgV), previously known as GB virus C, is known to infect humans but with an unproven link with clinical illness [26], despite being identified in the brain tissue of patients with encephalitis [27].…”