Emergence of reticuloendotheliosis virus in pigeons in Guangdong Province, Southern China.
Reticuloendotheliosis virus (REV), an important immunosuppressive pathogen, has many hosts, including chickens, ducks, geese, turkeys, and wild birds. Clinically, REV may lead to increased susceptibility to other pathogens, resulting in serious tissue damage (especially tumors) and the death of its host. In this study, we encountered a disease outbreak resulting in a large number of deaths of pigeons in Guangdong Province, Southern China. Histopathological analysis revealed apparent tumor-like lesions in multiple organs of pigeons. PCR assays for detection of tumor-associated pathogens (REV, avian leukosis virus, and Marek's disease virus) in poultry revealed the presence of REV sequences only. Moreover, fowlpox virus (FPV) with an insertion of REV long terminal repeat (LTR) sequences was also considered, but it was excluded using a specific PCR assay. To gain more genetic information, two full-length REV genome sequences were determined and found to have the highest nucleotide sequence similarity (99.9 %) and the closest genetic relationship to a vaccine strain (MD-2) and had a more distant genetic relationship (94.3 %) to a duck-origin strain (ATCC-VR775). To confirm the presence of REVs in pigeons, specific-pathogen-free (SPF) chickens and healthy pigeons were inoculated with microfiltered tumor tissue homogenates and were found to be susceptible to infection with REV. To our knowledge, this is the first report of REV in pigeons, and the data suggest that pigeons may be the natural host of REV.
Animal Disease Diagnostic Center, Institute of Animal Health, Guangdong Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Guangdong Key Labratory of Animal Disease Prevention, No. 21 Baishigang Street, Tianhe District, Guangzhou, 510640, China. zhaishaolun@163.com.
Shao-Lun
SL
Zhai
Guangdong Wens Dahuanong Biotechnology Co., Ltd., Xinxing, 527400, China.
Sheng-Nan
SN
Chen
Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, South Dakota State University, Brookings, SD, 57007, USA.
Tao
T
Lin
Animal Disease Diagnostic Center, Institute of Animal Health, Guangdong Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Guangdong Key Labratory of Animal Disease Prevention, No. 21 Baishigang Street, Tianhe District, Guangzhou, 510640, China.
Xiao-Hui
XH
Wen
Animal Disease Diagnostic Center, Institute of Animal Health, Guangdong Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Guangdong Key Labratory of Animal Disease Prevention, No. 21 Baishigang Street, Tianhe District, Guangzhou, 510640, China.
Wen-Kang
WK
Wei
Animal Disease Diagnostic Center, Institute of Animal Health, Guangdong Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Guangdong Key Labratory of Animal Disease Prevention, No. 21 Baishigang Street, Tianhe District, Guangzhou, 510640, China.
Dian-Hong
DH
Lv
Guangdong Wens Dahuanong Biotechnology Co., Ltd., Xinxing, 527400, China.|College of Veterinary Medicine, South China Agricultural University, Guangzhou, 510642, China.
Rui-Ai
RA
Chen
D000818:Animals; D001715:Bird Diseases / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000473:pathology / Q000821:virology*; D002645:Chickens; D002681:China / Q000453:epidemiology; D010856:Columbidae / Q000821:virology*; D004372:Ducks; D016679:Genome, Viral; D010802:Phylogeny; D011201:Poultry Diseases / Q000821:virology; D001356:Reticuloendotheliosis virus / Q000145:classification / Q000235:genetics / Q000302:isolation & purification* / Q000502:physiology
First report; Pigeons; Reticuloendotheliosis; Reticuloendotheliosis virus; South China