Teng Jade Lee Lee, Wernery Ulrich, Lee Hwei Huih, Joseph Sunitha, Fung Joshua, Elizabeth Shyna Korah, Yeong Kai Yan, Kinne Joerg, Chan Kwok-Hung, Lau Susanna Kar Pui, Woo Patrick Chiu Yat
Department of Microbiology, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China.
State Key Laboratory of Emerging Infectious Diseases, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China.
Viruses. 2019 Sep 1;11(9):810. doi: 10.3390/v11090810.
Newcastle disease virus (NDV) causes morbidities and mortalities in wild and domestic birds globally. For humans, exposure to infected birds can cause conjunctivitis and influenza-like symptoms. NDV infections in mammals are rarely reported. In this study, using next-generation sequencing, an NDV was identified and isolated from Vero cells inoculated with the nasal swab of an aborted dromedary fetus in Dubai, during the time when an NDV outbreak occurred in a pigeon farm located in close proximity to the dairy camel farm where the mother of the aborted dromedary fetus resided, and there were a lot of pigeons in the camel farm. Genome analysis revealed that the structurally and functionally important features of other NDVs were also present in this dromedary NDV genome. Phylogenetic analysis based on the nucleotide sequences of fusion protein (F), hemagglutinin-neuraminidase protein (HN) and complete polyprotein showed that the virus belonged to sub-genotype VIg of class II NDV and is most closely related to pigeon NDVs in Egypt in the same year. The present study is the first that demonstrated isolation of NDV in dromedaries. Further study is warranted to investigate the relationship between NDV infection and abortion.
新城疫病毒（NDV）在全球范围内导致野生和家养禽类发病和死亡。对于人类而言，接触感染的禽类可引发结膜炎和流感样症状。哺乳动物感染NDV的情况鲜有报道。在本研究中，利用下一代测序技术，从接种了迪拜一头流产单峰驼胎儿鼻拭子的Vero细胞中鉴定并分离出一株NDV。当时，在该流产单峰驼胎儿的母亲所在的奶用骆驼场附近的一个鸽场发生了NDV疫情，且骆驼场内有大量鸽子。基因组分析表明，该单峰驼NDV基因组也具备其他NDV的结构和功能重要特征。基于融合蛋白（F）、血凝素神经氨酸酶蛋白（HN）和完整多聚蛋白的核苷酸序列进行的系统发育分析显示，该病毒属于II类NDV的VIg亚基因型，且与同年埃及的鸽NDV最为密切相关。本研究首次证明了在单峰驼中分离出NDV。有必要进一步研究以调查NDV感染与流产之间的关系。
