Temeeyasen Gun, Sharafeldin Tamer, Gharaibeh Saad, Sobhy Nader M, Porter Robert E, Mor Sunil K
Animal Disease Research and Diagnostic Laboratory, Department of Veterinary and Biomedical Sciences, South Dakota State University, Brookings, SD 57007, USA.
Department of Pathology, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Zagazig University, Zagazig 44511, Sharkia, Egypt.
Pathogens. 2024 Sep 4;13(9):758. doi: 10.3390/pathogens13090758.
Avian encephalomyelitis (AE) is a disease caused by the avian encephalomyelitis virus (AEV) of the genus Tremovirus in the family Picornaviridae. Recently, cases of turkey poults showing neurological signs were submitted to the veterinary diagnostic laboratories at South Dakota State University and the University of Minnesota. The affected birds were showing nervous neurological signs such as tremors, inability to stand, torticollis, and wing drop. Clinical signs were observed by 3 weeks of age. Necropsy of birds revealed no significant gross lesions in the internal organs, including the brain. There was no significant bacterial growth in the brains. Microscopic examination of various sections of the brain revealed multifocal lymphocplasmacytic perivascular cuffs in the cerebellum and cerebral cortex. The brain samples were processed for detection and whole genome sequencing by next-generation sequencing. Three full-length polyprotein sequences (6405 nt) of AEV were assembled. All three sequences shared 99.9-100% nucleotide and 100% amino acid identities with each other. Only 77.7-78.5% of nucleotide and 90.3-92.5% of amino acid identities with AEV field strains and vaccine sequences were available in GenBank. This indicates that a new divergent variant of AEV is circulating in the field and causing AE outbreaks in the Midwest region.
禽脑脊髓炎（AE）是一种由微小核糖核酸病毒科震颤病毒属的禽脑脊髓炎病毒（AEV）引起的疾病。最近，出现神经症状的火鸡幼雏病例被提交至南达科他州立大学和明尼苏达大学的兽医诊断实验室。受影响的禽类表现出如震颤、无法站立、斜颈和翅膀下垂等神经症状。在3周龄时观察到临床症状。对禽类进行尸检发现，包括大脑在内的内脏器官没有明显的肉眼可见病变。大脑中没有明显的细菌生长。对大脑各部位进行显微镜检查发现，小脑和大脑皮层有多灶性淋巴细胞浆细胞性血管周围套袖现象。对脑样本进行处理，通过下一代测序进行检测和全基因组测序。组装了3条AEV的全长多聚蛋白序列（6405个核苷酸）。所有3条序列彼此之间的核苷酸同一性为99.9 - 100%，氨基酸同一性为100%。在GenBank中，与AEV野毒株和疫苗序列的核苷酸同一性仅为77.7 - 78.5%，氨基酸同一性为90.3 - 92.5%。这表明一种新的AEV变异株正在野外传播，并在中西部地区引发AE疫情。
