title: Passive West Nile virus antibody transfer from maternal Eastern screech-owls (Megascops asio) to progeny.
abstract: Transovarial antibody transfer in owls has not been demonstrated for West Nile virus (WNV). We sampled chicks from captive adult WNV-antibody-positive Eastern Screech-Owls (Megascops asio) to evaluate the prevalence of transovarial maternal antibody transfer, as well as titers and duration of maternal antibodies. Twenty-four owlets aged 1 to 27 days old circulated detectable antibodies with neutralizing antibody titers ranging from 20 to 1600 (median 1:40). Demonstrating that WNV antibodies are passively transferred transovarially is important for accurate interpretation of serologic data from young birds.
authors.affiliation: U.S. Geological Survey, Patuxent Wildlife Research Center, 12100 Beech Forest Road, Laurel, MD 20708, USA.
authors.forename: D C
authors.initials: DC
authors.lastname: Hahn
authors.forename: Nicole M
authors.initials: NM
authors.lastname: Nemeth
authors.forename: Eric
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Edwards
authors.forename: Patricia R
authors.initials: PR
authors.lastname: Bright
authors.forename: Nicholas
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Komar
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D000914:Antibodies, Viral / Q000097:blood*; D001715:Bird Diseases / Q000276:immunology* / Q000821:virology; D005260:Female; D007112:Immunity, Maternally-Acquired; D008297:Male; D020305:Strigiformes / Q000276:immunology*; D014901:West Nile Fever / Q000276:immunology / Q000662:veterinary; D014902:West Nile virus / Q000276:immunology*
chemical_list: D000914:Antibodies, Viral