Identification of Goose-Origin Parvovirus as a Cause of Newly Emerging Beak Atrophy and Dwarfism Syndrome in Ducklings

Abstract

A recent epizootic outbreak, in China, of duck beak atrophy and dwarfism syndrome (BADS) was investigated using electron microscopic, genetic, and virological studies, which identified a parvovirus with a greater similarity to goose parvovirus (GPV) (97% protein homology) than to Muscovy duck parvovirus (MDPV) (90% protein homology). The new virus, provisionally designated GPV-QH15, was found to be antigenically more closely related to GPV than to MDPV in a virus neutralization assay. These findings were further supported by phylogenetic analysis showing that GPV-QH15 evolved from goose lineage parvoviruses, rather than from Muscovy duck-or other duck species-related parvoviruses. In all, two genetic lineages (GPV I and GPV II) were identified from the GPV samples analyzed, and GPV-QH15 was found to be closely clustered with two known gooseorigin parvoviruses (GPVa2006 and GPV1995), together forming a distinctive GPV IIa sublineage. Finally, structural modeling revealed that GPV-QH15 and the closely related viruses GPVa2006 and GPV1995 possessed identical clusters of receptor-interacting amino acid residues in the VP2 protein, a major determinant of viral receptor binding and host specificity. Significantly, these three viruses differed from MDPVs and other GPVs at these positions. Taken together, these results suggest that GPV-QH15 represents a new variant of goose-origin parvovirus that currently circulates in ducklings and causes BADS, a syndrome reported previously in Europe. This new finding highlights the need for future surveillance of GPV-QH15 in poultry in order to gain a better understanding of both the evolution and the biology of this emerging parvovirus. The Parvoviridae are a family of small DNA viruses that consists of two subfamilies, Parvovirinae and Densovirinae. Parvoviruses are members of the subfamily Parvovirinae and can infect and cause diseases in humans as well as in other mammals, waterfowl, and poultry (1). In waterfowl, two genetically related parvovirus subgroups, goose parvovirus (GPV) and Muscovy duck parvovirus (MDPV), have been identified (2). GPV primarily infects geese and Muscovy ducks and can be highly contagious, with 70% to 100% mortality in goslings under the age of 4 weeks (3, 4). Interestingly, MDPV differs from GPV in that it infects, and causes disease in, Muscovy ducks and several hybrid duck breeds only, not geese. Both GPV and MDPV have been assigned phylogenetically to the genus Dependovirus in the family Parvoviridae due to similar genetic properties and evolutionary origins. The two viruses possess approximately 85% homology in their overall protein sequences and have been shown to be antigenically related to each other. Nonetheless, GPV and MDPV are distinct, and as a result, any antibody-driven cross-protection between these two closely related viruses is largely limited (5, 6).Clinically, GPV and MDPV are similar in that the two viruses are excreted in large amounts in the feces of infected waterfowl, subsequently spreading rapidly to susceptible birds by both...

Isolation and characterization of novel goose parvovirus-related virus reveal the evolution of waterfowl parvovirus

“…In NGPV, the amino acid mutation A140S (position 140, Ala to Ser) was located closely to the motif involved in DNA binding of the Rep protein, which might be related to virus transcription. The latest study showed that the antigenic epitopes on the GPV Rep protein were mainly located in the C‐terminal (aa 485–627) especially in the fragment Rep (aa 498–532) (Yu, Ma, Sheng et al., ; Yu, Ma, & Wang, ). Comparing to classical GPVs, we found seven coincidental amino acid mutations were located at the C‐terminal of Rep protein of NGPVs (Table ).…”

“…The ducks with SBDS showed strong growth retardation with beak atrophy, enteritis and paralysis. Although the mortality rate was 2%–6% in affected flocks, the morbidity rate was 10%–30% and even 50% in some regions, which caused great economic losses to waterfowl industry in China (Li et al., ; Yu, Ma, & Wang, ; Yu, Ma, Sheng et al., ). To better elucidate the pathogenesis of the virus, a Cherry Valley duck model was established to reproduce SBDS by infecting the ducklings with a Cherry Valley duck‐origin NGPV strain (Chen, Dou et al., ; Chen, Wang et al., ).…”

Development of a SYBR Green II Real-Time Polymerase Chain Reaction for the Clinical Detection of the Duck-Origin Goose Parvovirus in China

“…Real-time PCR for the diagnosis of duck-origin GPV has many advantages compared to serological diagnosis such as agar diffusion method, immunohistochemistry and ELISA [1], and molecular diagnostics. Generally, serological diagnosis has the disadvantage of low sensitivity and more time consumption.…”

“…Later, the representative BADS isolates GPV-QH15 [1], SBDSV-M15 [2], AH-D15 [2], SD [7], DS15 [8], and QH-L01 [9] have been reported, respectively. The duck-origin GPV is similar to other members of the genus Dependoparvovirus of the family Parvoviridae [10, 11].…”

“…In 2015, a new chronic infectious disease caused by the duck-origin goose parvovirus (GPV) emerged in commercial cherry valley ducks in China, of which the specific symptom is characterized by short beaks with protruding tongues, growth retardation, watery diarrhea, and short and thick tibias [1, 2]. Infected flocks displayed disease rates of up to 90%.…”