Detection of Usutu virus in a bullfinch (Pyrrhula pyrrhula) and a great spotted woodpecker (Dendrocopos major) in north-west Europe

Mutien-Marie Garigliany; Didier Marlier; Klara Tenner-Racz; Martin Eiden; Dominique Cassart; Frédéric Gandar; Martin Beer; Jonas Schmidt-Chanasit; Daniel Desmecht

doi:10.1016/j.tvjl.2013.10.017

Detection of Usutu virus in a bullfinch (Pyrrhula pyrrhula) and a great spotted woodpecker (Dendrocopos major) in north-west Europe

Vet J. 2014 Jan;199(1):191-3. doi: 10.1016/j.tvjl.2013.10.017. Epub 2013 Oct 28.

Authors

Mutien-Marie Garigliany¹, Didier Marlier², Klara Tenner-Racz³, Martin Eiden⁴, Dominique Cassart¹, Frédéric Gandar², Martin Beer⁴, Jonas Schmidt-Chanasit³, Daniel Desmecht⁵

Affiliations

¹ Department of Pathology, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Liège, Belgium.
² Department of Clinical Science, Clinic for Birds, Rabbits and Rodents, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Liège, Belgium.
³ Bernhard Nocht Institute for Tropical Medicine, WHO Collaborating Centre for Arbovirus and Haemorrhagic Fever Reference and Research, Hamburg, Germany.
⁴ Institute of Diagnostic Virology, Friedrich-Loeffler-Institut, Südufer 10, 17493 Greifswald-Insel Riems, Germany.
⁵ Department of Pathology, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Liège, Belgium. Electronic address: daniel.desmecht@ulg.ac.be.

PMID: 24268481
DOI: 10.1016/j.tvjl.2013.10.017

Abstract

In October 2012, a 3-year-old bullfinch (Pyrrhula pyrrhula) held in captivity for its entire lifespan and a wild adult great spotted woodpecker (Dendrocopos major), both with neurological signs, were found 4 km from each other and 5 days apart in the Meuse Valley, Belgium. Non-suppurative encephalitis and mild degeneration and necrosis were identified in the brain and cerebellum, and Usutu virus antigen and RNA were detected by immunohistochemistry and real-time reverse transcriptase PCR, respectively. The two cases reported here represent the most western distribution of clinical disease in birds due to Usutu virus in Europe.

Keywords: Bullfinch; Europe; Flaviviridae; Passeriformes; Usutu virus; Woodpecker.

Publication types

Case Reports
Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

Animals
Belgium / epidemiology
Bird Diseases / epidemiology
Bird Diseases / virology*
Birds
Flaviviridae / classification*
Flaviviridae Infections / epidemiology
Flaviviridae Infections / veterinary*
Flaviviridae Infections / virology