title: Reassortant influenza A viruses in wild duck populations: effects on viral shedding and persistence in water.
abstract: Wild ducks of the genus Anas represent the natural hosts for a large genetic diversity of influenza A viruses. In these hosts, co-infections with different virus genotypes are frequent and result in high rates of genetic reassortment. Recent genomic data have provided information regarding the pattern and frequency of these reassortant viruses in duck populations; however, potential consequences on viral shedding and maintenance in the environment have not been investigated. On the basis of full-genome sequencing, we identified five virus genotypes, in a wild duck population in northwestern Minnesota (USA), that naturally arose from genetic reassortments. We investigated the effects of influenza A virus genotype on the viral shedding pattern in Mallards (Anas platyrhynchos) and the duration of infectivity in water, under different temperature regimens. Overall, we found that variation in the viral genome composition of these isolates had limited effects on duration, extent and pattern of viral shedding, as well as on the reduction of infectivity in water over time. These results support that, in wild ducks, functionally equivalent gene segments could be maintained in virus populations with no fitness costs when genetic reassortments occur.
authors.affiliation: Department of Population Health, College of Veterinary Medicine, Southeastern Cooperative Wildlife Disease Study, University of Georgia, Athens, GA 30602, USA. camille.lebarbenchon@univ-reunion.fr
authors.forename: Camille
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Lebarbenchon
authors.forename: Srinand
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Sreevatsan
authors.forename: Thierry
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Lefèvre
authors.forename: My
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Yang
authors.forename: Muthannan A
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Ramakrishnan
authors.forename: Justin D
authors.initials: JD
authors.lastname: Brown
authors.forename: David E
authors.initials: DE
authors.lastname: Stallknecht
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002988:Cloaca / Q000821:virology; D060085:Coinfection / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000662:veterinary / Q000821:virology; D004372:Ducks; D014644:Genetic Variation; D016679:Genome, Viral; D009980:Influenza A virus / Q000145:classification / Q000235:genetics* / Q000302:isolation & purification / Q000472:pathogenicity; D005585:Influenza in Birds / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000821:virology; D008910:Minnesota; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D009960:Oropharynx / Q000821:virology; D011201:Poultry Diseases / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000821:virology; D015995:Prevalence; D060888:Real-Time Polymerase Chain Reaction / Q000662:veterinary; D017423:Sequence Analysis, RNA / Q000662:veterinary; D013045:Species Specificity; D013696:Temperature; D017201:Virus Shedding; D014871:Water Microbiology