West Nile virus in American White Pelican chicks: transmission, immunity, and survival

West Nile virus (WNV) causes significant mortality of American White Pelican chicks at northern plains colonies. We tested oropharyngeal/cloacal swabs from moribund chicks for shed WNV. Such shedding could enable chick-to-chick transmission and help explain why WNV spreads rapidly in colonies. WNV w...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:The American journal of tropical medicine and hygiene 2013-06, Vol.88 (6), p.1152-1158
Main Authors: Sovada, Marsha A, Pietz, Pamela J, Hofmeister, Erik K, Bartos, Alisa J
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Animals
Antibodies, Viral - blood
Bird Diseases - epidemiology
Bird Diseases - immunology
Bird Diseases - transmission
Bird Diseases - virology
Birds - immunology
Birds - virology
Culex - virology
Female
Incidence
Insect Vectors
Marine
Neutralization Tests
United States - epidemiology
West Nile Fever - epidemiology
West Nile Fever - immunology
West Nile Fever - transmission
West Nile virus
West Nile virus - isolation & purification
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Summary:West Nile virus (WNV) causes significant mortality of American White Pelican chicks at northern plains colonies. We tested oropharyngeal/cloacal swabs from moribund chicks for shed WNV. Such shedding could enable chick-to-chick transmission and help explain why WNV spreads rapidly in colonies. WNV was detected on swabs from 11% of chicks in 2006 and 52% of chicks in 2007; however, viral titers were low. Before onset of WNV mortality, we tested blood from < 3-week-old chicks for antibodies to WNV; 5% of chicks were seropositive, suggesting passive transfer of maternal antibodies. Among near-fledged chicks, 41% tested positive for anti-WNV antibodies, indicating that they survived infection. Among years and colonies, cumulative incidence of WNV in chicks varied from 28% to 81%, whereas the proportion of chicks surviving WNV (i.e., seropositive) was 64-75%. Our data revealed that WNV kills chicks that likely would fledge in the absence of WNV, that infection of chicks is pervasive, and that significant numbers of chicks survive infection.
ISSN:0002-9637
1476-1645
DOI:10.4269/ajtmh.12-0408