Herpesvirus Infection in a Breeding Population of Two Coexisting Strix Owls
Birds are a frequent host of a large variety of herpesviruses, and infections in them may go unnoticed or may result in fatal disease. In wild breeding populations of owls, there is very limited information about the presence, impact, and potential transmission of herpesvirus. The herpesvirus partia...
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ftmdpi:oai:mdpi.com:/2076-2615/11/9/2519/ 2023-08-20T04:10:01+02:00 Herpesvirus Infection in a Breeding Population of Two Coexisting Strix Owls Zoran Žlabravec Al Vrezec Brigita Slavec Urška Kuhar Olga Zorman Rojs Joško Račnik agris 2021-08-27 application/pdf https://doi.org/10.3390/ani11092519 EN eng Multidisciplinary Digital Publishing Institute Wildlife https://dx.doi.org/10.3390/ani11092519 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ Animals; Volume 11; Issue 9; Pages: 2519 wildlife predator-prey interaction disease transmission Ural owl tawny owl yellow-necked mouse polymerase chain reaction Slovenia Text 2021 ftmdpi https://doi.org/10.3390/ani11092519 2023-08-01T02:32:39Z Birds are a frequent host of a large variety of herpesviruses, and infections in them may go unnoticed or may result in fatal disease. In wild breeding populations of owls, there is very limited information about the presence, impact, and potential transmission of herpesvirus. The herpesvirus partial DNA polymerase gene was detected using polymerase chain reaction in oropharyngeal swabs of 16 out of 170 owls examined that were captured in or near nest boxes. Herpesvirus was detected in Ural owls (Strix uralensis), in both adults and young, but not in tawny owls (Strix aluco). In yellow-necked mice (Apodemus flavicollis), as the main prey of tawny owls and Ural owls in the area, herpesvirus was detected in the organs of 2 out of 40 mice captured at the same locations as the owls. Phylogenetic analysis showed that the herpesvirus sequences detected in the Ural owls differed from the herpesvirus sequences detected in the yellow-necked mice. The results indicate that herpesvirus infection exists in the breeding wild Ural owl population. However, herpesvirus-infected owls did not show any clinical or productivity deviances and, based on a phylogenetic comparison of detected herpesvirus sequences and sequences obtained from Genbank database, it seems that mice and other rodents are not the source of owl infections. The most probable transmission pathway is intraspecific, especially from adults to their chicks, but the origin of herpesvirus in owls remains to be investigated. Text Strix uralensis Ural Owl MDPI Open Access Publishing Animals 11 9 2519 |
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English |
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wildlife predator-prey interaction disease transmission Ural owl tawny owl yellow-necked mouse polymerase chain reaction Slovenia |
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wildlife predator-prey interaction disease transmission Ural owl tawny owl yellow-necked mouse polymerase chain reaction Slovenia Zoran Žlabravec Al Vrezec Brigita Slavec Urška Kuhar Olga Zorman Rojs Joško Račnik Herpesvirus Infection in a Breeding Population of Two Coexisting Strix Owls |
topic_facet |
wildlife predator-prey interaction disease transmission Ural owl tawny owl yellow-necked mouse polymerase chain reaction Slovenia |
description |
Birds are a frequent host of a large variety of herpesviruses, and infections in them may go unnoticed or may result in fatal disease. In wild breeding populations of owls, there is very limited information about the presence, impact, and potential transmission of herpesvirus. The herpesvirus partial DNA polymerase gene was detected using polymerase chain reaction in oropharyngeal swabs of 16 out of 170 owls examined that were captured in or near nest boxes. Herpesvirus was detected in Ural owls (Strix uralensis), in both adults and young, but not in tawny owls (Strix aluco). In yellow-necked mice (Apodemus flavicollis), as the main prey of tawny owls and Ural owls in the area, herpesvirus was detected in the organs of 2 out of 40 mice captured at the same locations as the owls. Phylogenetic analysis showed that the herpesvirus sequences detected in the Ural owls differed from the herpesvirus sequences detected in the yellow-necked mice. The results indicate that herpesvirus infection exists in the breeding wild Ural owl population. However, herpesvirus-infected owls did not show any clinical or productivity deviances and, based on a phylogenetic comparison of detected herpesvirus sequences and sequences obtained from Genbank database, it seems that mice and other rodents are not the source of owl infections. The most probable transmission pathway is intraspecific, especially from adults to their chicks, but the origin of herpesvirus in owls remains to be investigated. |
format |
Text |
author |
Zoran Žlabravec Al Vrezec Brigita Slavec Urška Kuhar Olga Zorman Rojs Joško Račnik |
author_facet |
Zoran Žlabravec Al Vrezec Brigita Slavec Urška Kuhar Olga Zorman Rojs Joško Račnik |
author_sort |
Zoran Žlabravec |
title |
Herpesvirus Infection in a Breeding Population of Two Coexisting Strix Owls |
title_short |
Herpesvirus Infection in a Breeding Population of Two Coexisting Strix Owls |
title_full |
Herpesvirus Infection in a Breeding Population of Two Coexisting Strix Owls |
title_fullStr |
Herpesvirus Infection in a Breeding Population of Two Coexisting Strix Owls |
title_full_unstemmed |
Herpesvirus Infection in a Breeding Population of Two Coexisting Strix Owls |
title_sort |
herpesvirus infection in a breeding population of two coexisting strix owls |
publisher |
Multidisciplinary Digital Publishing Institute |
publishDate |
2021 |
url |
https://doi.org/10.3390/ani11092519 |
op_coverage |
agris |
genre |
Strix uralensis Ural Owl |
genre_facet |
Strix uralensis Ural Owl |
op_source |
Animals; Volume 11; Issue 9; Pages: 2519 |
op_relation |
Wildlife https://dx.doi.org/10.3390/ani11092519 |
op_rights |
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.3390/ani11092519 |
container_title |
Animals |
container_volume |
11 |
container_issue |
9 |
container_start_page |
2519 |
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1774723902306516992 |