title: Avian pneumovirus (APV) RNA from wild and sentinel birds in the United States has genetic homology with RNA from APV isolates from domestic turkeys.
abstract: Nasal turbinates or swabs were collected from wild ducks, geese, owls, sparrows, swallows, and starlings and from sentinel ducks placed next to turkey farms experiencing avian pneumovirus (APV) infections and were analyzed for APV genome and infectious particles. APV RNA was detected in samples examined from geese, sparrows, and starlings. APV RNA and antibodies were also detected in two different groups of sentinel ducks. Infectious APV was recovered from sentinel duck samples. The APV M gene isolated from the wild birds had over 96% predicted amino acid identity with APV/Minnesota 2A, which was isolated earlier from domestic turkeys showing respiratory illness, suggesting that wild birds may be involved in spreading APV infection.
authors.affiliation: Department of Veterinary PathoBiology, College of Veterinary Medicine, University of Minnesota, St. Paul, Minnesota 55108, USA.
authors.forename: H J
authors.initials: HJ
authors.lastname: Shin
authors.forename: M K
authors.initials: MK
authors.lastname: Njenga
authors.forename: B
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: McComb
authors.forename: D A
authors.initials: DA
authors.lastname: Halvorson
authors.forename: K V
authors.initials: KV
authors.lastname: Nagaraja
mesh_terms: D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000818:Animals; D000835:Animals, Wild / Q000821:virology; D001715:Bird Diseases / Q000821:virology*; D001717:Birds / Q000821:virology; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D018111:Pneumovirus / Q000235:genetics / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D018186:Pneumovirus Infections / Q000662:veterinary* / Q000821:virology; D011201:Poultry Diseases / Q000821:virology*; D012367:RNA, Viral / Q000032:analysis / Q000235:genetics*; D018571:Sentinel Surveillance / Q000662:veterinary; D017386:Sequence Homology, Amino Acid; D014422:Turkeys / Q000821:virology*; D014481:United States; D014763:Viral Matrix Proteins / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics
chemical_list: D012367:RNA, Viral; D014763:Viral Matrix Proteins