Southeast Poultry Research Laboratories, United States Department of Agriculture, Athens, GA, USA; Department of Infectious Diseases, University of Georgia, Athens, GA, USA.
Southeast Poultry Research Laboratories, United States Department of Agriculture, Athens, GA, USA.
Virology. 2024 Dec;600:110216. doi: 10.1016/j.virol.2024.110216. Epub 2024 Sep 11.
Avian orthoreoviruses (ARV) are an emerging threat for the poultry industry, both in the United States (US) and globally. ARV infections in turkeys have been associated with arthritis, lameness and neurological disorders, and cost the US economy approximately USD 33 million per year. There is not a commercial vaccine available and the shortage of turkey ARV (TRV) genomic data hinders the efforts to explore the molecular epidemiology of this virus, although several studies suggest a close relationship between European TRVs and TRVs present in the US. This study shows a snapshot of the genomic diversity of Avian orthoreoviruses (ARV) circulating in Germany in the mid-2000s. Through a deep genomic analysis of 18 ARV isolates recovered from sick turkeys, we observed that co-infection was a common condition. 80% of the samples showed signs of a simultaneous infection with a TRV and a chicken ARV (CRV). We believe this is the first reported evidence of CRV and TRV naturally occurring co-infections in commercial turkeys. These co-infection events were identified due to the significant genomic diversity observed among ARV infecting various production bird species. Our phylogenetic analysis revealed a consistent host-associated ARV clustering, with three main clades: (i) a TRV clade, (ii) a CRV clade, and (iii) a Duck ARV (DRV)/Goose ARV (GRV) clade. Furthermore, our findings indicate that German TRVs have interacted with their European and American counterparts, suggesting active mobilization of the virus, likely through the commercial trading of live animals. However, we also consider the potential role of migratory birds in the international movement of ARV.
禽类正呼肠孤病毒（ARV）是美国和全球家禽业面临的新兴威胁。火鸡 ARV 感染与关节炎、跛行和神经紊乱有关，每年给美国经济造成约 3300 万美元的损失。目前没有可用的商业疫苗，火鸡 ARV（TRV）基因组数据的缺乏阻碍了对该病毒分子流行病学的探索，尽管有几项研究表明欧洲 TRV 与美国的 TRV 密切相关。本研究展示了 21 世纪中期德国流行的禽正呼肠孤病毒（ARV）的基因组多样性快照。通过对从患病火鸡中分离的 18 株 ARV 进行深入的基因组分析，我们观察到共感染是一种常见的情况。80%的样本显示出同时感染 TRV 和鸡 ARV（CRV）的迹象。我们认为这是首次报道商业火鸡中自然发生的 CRV 和 TRV 共感染。这些共感染事件是由于感染各种生产鸟类的 ARV 表现出显著的基因组多样性而被识别出来的。我们的系统发育分析显示，与宿主相关的 ARV 聚类一致，主要有三个分支：（i）TRV 分支，（ii）CRV 分支，和（iii）鸭 ARV（DRV）/鹅 ARV（GRV）分支。此外，我们的研究结果表明，德国 TRV 与欧洲和美国的 TRV 相互作用，表明病毒的活跃传播，可能是通过商业交易活体动物。然而，我们也考虑到候鸟在 ARV 的国际传播中的潜在作用。
