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. 2021 Jan;166(1):65-72.
doi: 10.1007/s00705-020-04834-w. Epub 2020 Oct 16.

Prevalence of pigeon rotavirus infections: animal exhibitions as a risk factor for pigeon flocks

Maxi Harzer  1 , Kristin Heenemann  2 , Michael Sieg  2 , Thomas Vahlenkamp  2 , Markus Freick  3 , Antje Rückner  2
Affiliations

Prevalence of pigeon rotavirus infections: animal exhibitions as a risk factor for pigeon flocks

Maxi Harzer et al. Arch Virol. 2021 Jan.

Abstract

A total of 289 cloacal swabs from pigeons from 29 different breeders in Germany were collected. In addition, samples from pigeons exhibited at shows were collected. The detailed health status of the pigeon flocks was recorded. Samples were analysed for the presence of the recently discovered pigeon rotavirus and pigeon circovirus. Pigeon rotavirus was found in 10.3% and pigeon circoviruses was found in 65.5% of sampled pigeon lofts. The study revealed a strong relationship between the attendance of shows and the occurrence of different clinical signs. The higher prevalence of pigeon rotavirus in exhibited animals indicates that exhibitions are a risk factor for the transmission of this pathogen.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Occurrence of clinical signs and virus detection in different lofts. (a) Distribution of RVA or PiCV results among affected or unaffected lofts and clinical observations within positive tested groups. (b) Clinical symptoms, reported in the questionnaire. (c) Correlation between RVA results and the time between the clinical outbreak and the sample collection date
Fig. 2
Fig. 2
Phylogenetic analysis based on VP6 sequences. Partial VP6 sequences (519 nt) were analysed in comparison to sequences of the typical avian RVA genotypes I4, I11, and I21 obtained from GenBank as described [4]. Genotype assignments are based on an 81% nucleotide sequence identity cutoff [3]. The tree was built using the neighbour‐joining algorithm and the Jukes‐Cantor distance model in MEGA X. Values at branches represent percent branch support for 1,000 bootstrap replicates. Pigeon RVA isolated from pigeon samples from lofts, ○; samples from an exhibition in 2017, ■; samples from an exhibition in 2018, ●; samples from an exhibition in 2019, ♦
Fig. 3
Fig. 3
Phylogenetic analysis based on VP4 sequences. Partial VP4 sequences (660 nt) were analysed in comparison to sequences of the avian RVA genotypes P[17], P[30], P[31], P[35], and P[37] obtained from GenBank. Genotype assignments are based on a previously established cutoff value [13]. The tree was built using the neighbour‐joining algorithm and the Jukes‐Cantor distance model in MEGA X. Values at branches represent percent branch support for 1,000 bootstrap replicates. Pigeon RVA isolated from pigeon samples from lofts, ○; samples from an exhibition in 2017, ■; samples from an exhibition in 2018, ●; samples from an exhibition in 2019, ♦
Fig. 4
Fig. 4
Phylogenetic analysis based on VP7 sequences. Partial VP7 sequences (845 nt) were analysed in comparison to sequences of the avian RVA genotypes G7, G18, G19, G22 and G23 obtained from GenBank. Genotype assignments are based on a previously established cutoff value [13]. The tree was built using the neighbour‐joining algorithm and the Jukes‐Cantor distance model in MEGA X. Values at branches represent percent branch support for 1,000 bootstrap replicates. Pigeon RVA isolated from pigeon samples from lofts, ○; samples from an exhibition in 2017, ■; samples from an exhibition in 2018, ●; samples from an exhibition in 2019, ♦
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