Circulation of a Meaban-Like Virus in Yellow-Legged Gulls and Seabird Ticks in the Western Mediterranean Basin
Arnal, Audrey (Centre de recherche de la Tour du Valat)
Gómez-Díaz, Elena (Institut de Biologia Evolutiva (UPF-CSIC) (Barcelona))
Cerdà-Cuéllar, Marta (Institut de Recerca i Tecnologia Agroalimentàries. Centre de Recerca en Sanitat Animal)
Lecollinet, Sylvie (INRA. Animal Health Laboratory)
Pearce-Duvet, Jessica (Centre d'Ecologie Fonctionnelle et Evolutive)
Busquets, Núria (Institut de Recerca i Tecnologia Agroalimentàries. Centre de Recerca en Sanitat Animal)
García-Bocanegra, Ignacio (Universidad de Córdoba. Departamento de Sanidad Animal)
Pagès Martínez, Nonito (Institut de Recerca i Tecnologia Agroalimentàries. Centre de Recerca en Sanitat Animal)
Vittecoq, Marion (Centre de recherche de la Tour du Valat)
Hammouda, Abdessalem (Faculté des Sciences de Gabès. Département des Sciences de la Vie)
Samraoui, Boudjéma (King Saud University. Center of Excellence for Research in Biodiversity)
Garnier, Romain (Centre d'Ecologie Fonctionnelle et Evolutive)
Ramos, Raül (Centre d'Ecologie Fonctionnelle et Evolutive)
Selmi, Slaheddine (Faculté des Sciences de Gabès. Département des Sciences de la Vie)
González-Solís, Jacob (Universitat de Barcelona. Departament de Biologia Animal)
Jourdain, Elsa (INRA. Unité d'Epidémiologie Animale)
Boulinier, Thierry (Centre d'Ecologie Fonctionnelle et Evolutive)

Data:	2014
Resum:	In recent years, a number of zoonotic flaviviruses have emerged worldwide, and wild birds serve as their major reservoirs. Epidemiological surveys of bird populations at various geographical scales can clarify key aspects of the eco-epidemiology of these viruses. In this study, we aimed at exploring the presence of flaviviruses in the western Mediterranean by sampling breeding populations of the yellow-legged gull (Larus michahellis), a widely distributed, anthropophilic, and abundant seabird species. For 3 years, we sampled eggs from 19 breeding colonies in Spain, France, Algeria, and Tunisia. First, ELISAs were used to determine if the eggs contained antibodies against flaviviruses. Second, neutralization assays were used to identify the specific flaviviruses present. Finally, for colonies in which ELISA-positive eggs had been found, chick serum samples and potential vectors, culicid mosquitoes and soft ticks (Ornithodoros maritimus), were collected and analyzed using serology and PCR, respectively. The prevalence of flavivirus-specific antibodies in eggs was highly spatially heterogeneous. In northeastern Spain, on the Medes Islands and in the nearby village of L'Escala, 56% of eggs had antibodies against the flavivirus envelope protein, but were negative for neutralizing antibodies against three common flaviviruses: West Nile, Usutu, and tick-borne encephalitis viruses. Furthermore, little evidence of past flavivirus exposure was obtained for the other colonies. A subset of the Ornithodoros ticks from Medes screened for flaviviral RNA tested positive for a virus whose NS5 gene was 95% similar to that of Meaban virus, a flavivirus previously isolated from ticks of Larus argentatus in western France. All ELISA-positive samples subsequently tested positive for Meaban virus neutralizing antibodies. This study shows that gulls in the western Mediterranean Basin are exposed to a tick-borne Meaban-like virus, which underscores the need of exploring the spatial and temporal distribution of this flavivirus as well as its potential pathogenicity for animals and humans.
Ajuts:	European Commission. Horizon 2020 276838
Drets:	Aquest document està subjecte a una llicència d'ús Creative Commons. Es permet la reproducció total o parcial, la distribució, la comunicació pública de l'obra i la creació d'obres derivades, fins i tot amb finalitats comercials, sempre i quan es reconegui l'autoria de l'obra original.
Llengua:	Anglès
Document:	Article ; recerca ; Versió publicada
Publicat a:	PloS one, Vol. 9 (march 2014) , ISSN 1932-6203

DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0089601
PMID: 24625959

10 p, 4.1 MB

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