Abstract
Detailed patterns of primary virus acquisition and subsequent dispersal in wild vertebrate populations are virtually absent. We show that nestlings of a songbird acquire polyomavirus infections from larval blowflies, common nest ectoparasites of cavity-nesting birds, while breeding adults acquire and renew the same viral infections via cloacal shedding from their offspring. Infections by these DNA viruses, known potential pathogens producing disease in some bird species, therefore follow an ‘upwards vertical’ route of an environmental nature mimicking horizontal transmission within families, as evidenced by patterns of viral infection in adults and young of experimental, cross-fostered offspring. This previously undescribed route of viral transmission from ectoparasites to offspring to parent hosts may be a common mechanism of virus dispersal in many taxa that display parental care.
Highlights
Arthropods are well-characterized vectors of many viruses of plants and animals [1,2], including arboviruses
Patterns of pathogen transmission are central to the evolution of infectious disease and host resistance [4,5,6], including those related to arboviruses [3], most of our knowledge stems from rather loose patterns of virus dispersal from broad, lifecycle perspectives which generally lack detailed information on the realized modes of virus dispersal across hosts at the population level [3]
Polyomaviruses are a group of small, double-stranded DNA viruses best known from mammals and birds [8], though present in lower vertebrates [9]
Summary
Arthropods are well-characterized vectors of many viruses of plants and animals [1,2], including arboviruses (a non-systematic grouping of arthropod-borne, mostly RNA, viruses of vertebrates, where viral replication occurs in both the vertebrate and invertebrate hosts [3]). We evaluated whether the presence of an avian polyomavirus (APV hereafter) infecting nestlings of the pied flycatcher is associated with the presence of the nest ectoparasitic blowfly P. azurea, to assess its potential as vector of the virus.
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