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Avian influenza viruses (AIVs) are maintained in wild bird reservoirs, particularly in mallard ducks and other waterfowl. Novel evolutionary lineages of AIV that arise through genetic drift or reassortment can spread with wild bird migrations to new regions, infect a wide variety of resident bird species, and spillover to domestic poultry. The vast continental reservoir of AIVs in Eurasia harbors a wide diversity of influenza subtypes, including both highly pathogenic (HP) and low pathogenic (LP) H7 AIV. The Caspian Sea region is positioned at the intersection of major migratory flyways connecting Central Asia, Europe, the Black and Mediterranean Sea regions and Africa and holds a rich wetland and avian ecology. To understand genetic reservoirs present in the Caspian Sea region, we collected 559 cloacal swabs from Anseriformes and other species during the annual autumn migration periods in 2017 and 2018. We isolated two novel H7N3 LPAIV from mallard ducks whose H7 hemagglutinin (HA) gene was phylogenetically related to contemporaneous strains from distant Mongolia, and more closely Georgia and Ukraine, and predated the spread of this H7 LPAIV sublineage into East Asia in 2019. The N3 neuraminidase gene and internal genes were prototypical of AIV widely dispersed in wild bird reservoirs sampled along flyways connected to the Caspian region. The polymerase and nucleoprotein segments clustered with contemporaneous H5 HPAI (clade 2.3.4.4b) isolates, suggesting the wide dispersal of H7 LPAIV and the potential of this subtype for reassortment. These findings highlight the need for deeper surveillance of AIV in wild birds to better understand the extent of infection spread and evolution along spatial and temporal flyways in Eurasia.
Marina Gulyaeva; Maria De Marco; Ganna Kovalenko; Eric Bortz; Tatiana Murashkina; Kseniya Yurchenko; Marzia Facchini; Mauro Delogu; Ivan Sobolev; Alimurad Gadzhiev; Kirill Sharshov; Alexander Shestopalov. Biological Properties and Genetic Characterization of Novel Low Pathogenic H7N3 Avian Influenza Viruses Isolated from Mallard Ducks in the Caspian Region, Dagestan, Russia. Microorganisms 2021, 9, 864 .
AMA StyleMarina Gulyaeva, Maria De Marco, Ganna Kovalenko, Eric Bortz, Tatiana Murashkina, Kseniya Yurchenko, Marzia Facchini, Mauro Delogu, Ivan Sobolev, Alimurad Gadzhiev, Kirill Sharshov, Alexander Shestopalov. Biological Properties and Genetic Characterization of Novel Low Pathogenic H7N3 Avian Influenza Viruses Isolated from Mallard Ducks in the Caspian Region, Dagestan, Russia. Microorganisms. 2021; 9 (4):864.
Chicago/Turabian StyleMarina Gulyaeva; Maria De Marco; Ganna Kovalenko; Eric Bortz; Tatiana Murashkina; Kseniya Yurchenko; Marzia Facchini; Mauro Delogu; Ivan Sobolev; Alimurad Gadzhiev; Kirill Sharshov; Alexander Shestopalov. 2021. "Biological Properties and Genetic Characterization of Novel Low Pathogenic H7N3 Avian Influenza Viruses Isolated from Mallard Ducks in the Caspian Region, Dagestan, Russia." Microorganisms 9, no. 4: 864.
Due to their need for living cells, viruses have developed adaptive evolutionary strategies to survive and perpetuate in reservoir hosts that play a crucial role in the ecology of emerging pathogens. Pathogenic and potentially pandemic betacoronaviruses arose in humans in 2002 (SARS-CoV, disappeared in July 2003), 2012 (MERS-CoV, still circulating in Middle East areas), and 2019 (SARS-CoV-2, causing the current global pandemic). As universally recognized, bats host ancestors of the above-mentioned zoonotic viruses. However, hedgehogs have been recently identified in Europe and Asia as possible reservoirs of MERS-CoV-like strains classified as Erinaceus coronavirus (EriCoV). To elucidate the evolution and genetics of EriCoVs, NGS (next generation sequencing) and Sanger sequencing were used to examine fecal samples collected in Northern Italy in 2018/2019 from 12 hedgehogs previously found EriCoV-positive by RT-PCR. By sequence analysis, eight complete EriCoV genomes, obtained by NGS, showed a high phylogenetic correlation with EriCoV strains previously reported in Eurasia. Interestingly, eight viral strains presented an additional ORF encoding for the CD200 ortholog located between the genes encoding for the Spike and the ORF3a proteins. The CD200 ortholog sequences were closely similar to the host CD200 protein but varying among EriCoVs. The result, confirmed by Sanger sequencing, demonstrates for the first time that CoVs can acquire host genes potentially involved in the immune-modulatory cascade and possibly enabling the virus to escape the host defence.
Luca De Sabato; Ilaria Di Bartolo; Maria Alessandra De Marco; Ana Moreno; Davide Lelli; Claudia Cotti; Mauro Delogu; Gabriele Vaccari. Can Coronaviruses Steal Genes from the Host as Evidenced in Western European Hedgehogs by EriCoV Genetic Characterization? Viruses 2020, 12, 1471 .
AMA StyleLuca De Sabato, Ilaria Di Bartolo, Maria Alessandra De Marco, Ana Moreno, Davide Lelli, Claudia Cotti, Mauro Delogu, Gabriele Vaccari. Can Coronaviruses Steal Genes from the Host as Evidenced in Western European Hedgehogs by EriCoV Genetic Characterization? Viruses. 2020; 12 (12):1471.
Chicago/Turabian StyleLuca De Sabato; Ilaria Di Bartolo; Maria Alessandra De Marco; Ana Moreno; Davide Lelli; Claudia Cotti; Mauro Delogu; Gabriele Vaccari. 2020. "Can Coronaviruses Steal Genes from the Host as Evidenced in Western European Hedgehogs by EriCoV Genetic Characterization?" Viruses 12, no. 12: 1471.
Most of the newly emerging infections arise from animal reservoirs, frequently represented by wildlife species. Western European hedgehogs (Erinaceus europaeus) are mammalian hibernators, mainly nocturnal and insectivorous, living in natural open and green spaces as well as artificial, rural and urban, areas. They are generalist predators of macro-invertebrates, but they may also eat meat, bird eggs and on occasion pet food. These ecological and feeding habits, along with their high population densities, notable synanthropic attitudes, frequent contacts with sympatric wild and domestic species, including humans, implicate the possibility of intra- and interspecies interactions accounting for the possible involvement of E. europaeus in the ecology of several potentially emerging pathogens, including coronaviruses. Using PCR-based and virus isolation methods, we found that 58.3% of 24 hedgehogs’ fecal samples were PCR-positive for Erinaceus coronaviruses (EriCoVs). We did not observe any clinical disease related to the EriCoV infection in hedgehogs. However, the high mutation rates characterizing members of the Coronaviridae family and their potential successful interspecies host jumps—as that likely occurred in the Novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV) emergence—should be considered in the management of hedgehogs admitted to multi-species wildlife rehabilitation centers, recommending their return back to the original recovery areas. The Western European Hedgehog (Erinaceus europaeus) is one of the four hedgehog species belonging to the genus Erinaceus. Among them, E. amurensis is extant in East Asia’s areas only, whereas E. europaeus, E. roumanicus and E. concolor are mainly found in Europe. E. europaeus is endemically distributed from western to central and southern Europe, including Italy. Western European hedgehogs’ ecological and feeding habits, along with their high population densities, notable synanthropic attitudes, frequent contacts with sympatric wild and domestic species, including humans, implicate the possible involvement of E. europaeus in the ecology of potentially emerging viruses, such as coronaviruses, influenza A and influenza D viruses, canine distemper virus, pestiviruses and Aujeszky’s disease virus. We examined 24 E. europaeus individuals found injured in urban and rural areas of Northern Italy. Of the 24 fecal samples collected and tested for the above-mentioned pathogens by both PCR-based and virus isolation methods, 14 were found PCR-positive for betacoronaviruses belonging to lineage C and related to the known Erinaceus coronaviruses (EriCoVs), as determined by partial sequencing of the virus genome. Our findings suggest that hedgehogs could be considered natural reservoirs of CoVs, and also act as chronic shedding carriers of these potentially emerging RNA viruses.
Mauro Delogu; Claudia Cotti; Davide Lelli; Enrica Sozzi; Tiziana Trogu; Antonio Lavazza; Giacomo Garuti; Maria Rita Castrucci; Gabriele Vaccari; Maria Alessandra De Marco; Ana Moreno. Eco-Virological Preliminary Study of Potentially Emerging Pathogens in Hedgehogs (Erinaceus europaeus) Recovered at a Wildlife Treatment and Rehabilitation Center in Northern Italy. Animals 2020, 10, 407 .
AMA StyleMauro Delogu, Claudia Cotti, Davide Lelli, Enrica Sozzi, Tiziana Trogu, Antonio Lavazza, Giacomo Garuti, Maria Rita Castrucci, Gabriele Vaccari, Maria Alessandra De Marco, Ana Moreno. Eco-Virological Preliminary Study of Potentially Emerging Pathogens in Hedgehogs (Erinaceus europaeus) Recovered at a Wildlife Treatment and Rehabilitation Center in Northern Italy. Animals. 2020; 10 (3):407.
Chicago/Turabian StyleMauro Delogu; Claudia Cotti; Davide Lelli; Enrica Sozzi; Tiziana Trogu; Antonio Lavazza; Giacomo Garuti; Maria Rita Castrucci; Gabriele Vaccari; Maria Alessandra De Marco; Ana Moreno. 2020. "Eco-Virological Preliminary Study of Potentially Emerging Pathogens in Hedgehogs (Erinaceus europaeus) Recovered at a Wildlife Treatment and Rehabilitation Center in Northern Italy." Animals 10, no. 3: 407.
Wild aquatic birds, reservoir of low-pathogenicity (LP) avian influenza viruses (AIVs), congregate in huge numbers in Western Siberia wetlands, where major intra- and inter-continental bird flyways overlap. In 2005 and 2006, highly pathogenic (HP) AIV H5N1 epizootics affected wild and domestic birds in the Novosibirsk Region. In 2012, we evaluated AIV persistence in Siberian natural and anthropic ecosystems. In Novosibirsk Region, 166 wild birds ecologically linked to aquatic environments and 152 domestic waterfowl were examined for AIV isolation in embryonating chicken eggs. Biological samples were obtained by integrating the conventional cloacal swab collection with the harvesting of samples from birds' plumage. Haemagglutinating allantoic fluids were further characterized by serological and molecular methods. In August-September 2012, 17 AIVs, including three H3N8, eight H4N6, two H4N?, one H2N?, one H?N2, and two unsubtyped LPAIVs, were isolated from 15 wild ducks. Whereas comparable proportions of wild Anseriformes (n.118) tested virus isolation (VI)-positive from cloaca and feathers (5.9% vs 8.5%) were detected, the overall prevalence of virus isolation, obtained from both sampling methods, was 2.4 times higher than that calculated on results from cloacal swab examination only (14.4% vs 5.9%). Unlike previously described in this area, the H4N6 antigenic subtype was found to be the prevalent one in 2012. Both cloacal and feather samples collected from domestic waterfowl tested VI-negative. We found lack of evidence for the H5N1 HPAIV circulation, explainable by the poor environmental fitness of HPAIVs in natural ecosystems. Our LPAIV isolation data emphasise the importance of Siberia wetlands in influenza A virus ecology, providing evidence of changes in circulation dynamics of HN antigenic subtypes harboured in wild bird reservoirs. Further studies of isolates, based on bioinformatic approaches to virus molecular evolution and phylogenesis, will be needed to better elucidate mechanisms involved in AIV perpetuation in this area.
Maria A. De Marco; Mauro Delogu; Mariya Sivay; Kirill Sharshov; Alexander Yurlov; Claudia Cotti; Alexander Shestopalov. Virological Evaluation of Avian Influenza Virus Persistence in Natural and Anthropic Ecosystems of Western Siberia (Novosibirsk Region, Summer 2012). PLOS ONE 2014, 9, e100859 .
AMA StyleMaria A. De Marco, Mauro Delogu, Mariya Sivay, Kirill Sharshov, Alexander Yurlov, Claudia Cotti, Alexander Shestopalov. Virological Evaluation of Avian Influenza Virus Persistence in Natural and Anthropic Ecosystems of Western Siberia (Novosibirsk Region, Summer 2012). PLOS ONE. 2014; 9 (6):e100859.
Chicago/Turabian StyleMaria A. De Marco; Mauro Delogu; Mariya Sivay; Kirill Sharshov; Alexander Yurlov; Claudia Cotti; Alexander Shestopalov. 2014. "Virological Evaluation of Avian Influenza Virus Persistence in Natural and Anthropic Ecosystems of Western Siberia (Novosibirsk Region, Summer 2012)." PLOS ONE 9, no. 6: e100859.