Abstract
Avian pox is a viral disease with a wide host range. In Great Britain, avian pox in birds of the Paridae family was first diagnosed in a great tit (Parus major) from south-east England in 2006. An increasing number of avian pox incidents in Paridae have been reported each year since, indicative of an emergent infection. Here, we utilise a database of opportunistic reports of garden bird mortality and morbidity to analyse spatial and temporal patterns of suspected avian pox throughout Great Britain, 2006–2010. Reports of affected Paridae (211 incidents) outnumbered reports in non-Paridae (91 incidents). The majority (90%) of Paridae incidents involved great tits. Paridae pox incidents were more likely to involve multiple individuals (77.3%) than were incidents in non-Paridae hosts (31.9%). Unlike the small wart-like lesions usually seen in non-Paridae with avian pox in Great Britain, lesions in Paridae were frequently large, often with an ulcerated surface and caseous core. Spatial analyses revealed strong clustering of suspected avian pox incidents involving Paridae hosts, but only weak, inconsistent clustering of incidents involving non-Paridae hosts. There was no spatial association between Paridae and non-Paridae incidents. We documented significant spatial spread of Paridae pox from an origin in south-east England; no spatial spread was evident for non-Paridae pox. For both host clades, there was an annual peak of reports in August/September. Sequencing of the avian poxvirus 4b core protein produced an identical viral sequence from each of 20 great tits tested from Great Britain. This sequence was identical to that from great tits from central Europe and Scandinavia. In contrast, sequence variation was evident amongst virus tested from 17 non-Paridae hosts of 5 species. Our findings show Paridae pox to be an emerging infectious disease in wild birds in Great Britain, apparently originating from viral incursion from central Europe or Scandinavia.
Highlights
Avian pox is a well known disease of captive and wild birds caused by dsDNA viruses in the genus Avipoxvirus that affects a wide range of species globally (278 species from 70 families and 20 orders to date [1,2,3])
Avian pox incidents From 2006 to 2010, 302 suspected avian pox incidents were reported across Great Britain through opportunistic surveillance
Avian pox cases are frequently documented in a wide variety of hosts [3], pox in Paridae species had not been reported previously in Great Britain
Summary
Avian pox is a well known disease of captive and wild birds caused by dsDNA viruses in the genus Avipoxvirus that affects a wide range of species globally (278 species from 70 families and 20 orders to date [1,2,3]). Avian poxvirus typically causes discrete, proliferative, ‘wart-like’ lesions on the featherless regions of the head, legs and feet. This clinical presentation is frequently selflimiting, with lesions restricted to the skin, and described as ‘dry’ pox [3]. The incubation period and duration of avian poxvirus infection is variable (from a few days to many months), but affected birds with mild lesions frequently recover and this is considered to be the most common situation in wild birds [4,5]. Susceptibility to avipoxvirus infection varies among host species, and in relation to host age (juveniles are most susceptible), immunocompetence, season and local environment [5]
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