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Bagaza virus and Plasmodium spp. coinfection in red-legged partridges ( Alectoris rufa ), in southern Spain 2019
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  • Ursula Höfle,
  • Teresa Cardona Cabrera,
  • Alberto Sánchez-Cano,
  • Isabel Fernandez de Mera,
  • María A. Risalde,
  • Alberto Moraga Fernandez,
  • José Antonio Ortiz
Ursula Höfle
Instituto e Investigacion en Recursos Cinegeticos Grupo de Investigacion Sanidad y Biotecnologia

Corresponding Author:[email protected]

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Teresa Cardona Cabrera
Instituto e Investigacion en Recursos Cinegeticos Grupo de Investigacion Sanidad y Biotecnologia
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Alberto Sánchez-Cano
Instituto e Investigacion en Recursos Cinegeticos Grupo de Investigacion Sanidad y Biotecnologia
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Isabel Fernandez de Mera
Instituto e Investigacion en Recursos Cinegeticos Grupo de Investigacion Sanidad y Biotecnologia
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María A. Risalde
Universidad de Cordoba Departamento de Anatomia y Anatomia Patologica Comparadas
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Alberto Moraga Fernandez
Instituto e Investigacion en Recursos Cinegeticos Grupo de Investigacion Sanidad y Biotecnologia
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José Antonio Ortiz
Grupo NETCO Medianilla sl Benalup Spain
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Abstract

Flaviviruses West Nile (WNV), Usutu (USUV) and Bagaza (BAGV) virus and avian malaria parasites are vector borne pathogens that circulate naturally between avian and mosquito hosts. WNV and USUV and potentially also BAGV constitute zoonoses. Temporal and spatial co-circulation and co-infection with Plasmodium spp., and West Nile virus has been documented in birds and mosquito vectors, and fatally USUV infected passerines coinfected with Plasmodium spp. had more severe lesions. Also, WNV, USUV and BAGV have been found to co-circulate. Yet little is known about the interaction of BAGV and malaria parasites during consecutive or co-infections of avian hosts. Here we report mortality of free-living red-legged partridges in a hunting estate in Southern Spain due to coinfection with BAGV and Plasmodium spp. The outbreak occurred in the area where BAGV first emerged in Europe in 2010 and where co-circulation of BAGV, USUV and WNV was confirmed in 2011 and 2013. Partridges were found dead in early October 2019. Birds had mottled locally pale pectoral muscles, enlarged, congestive greenish-black tinged livers and enlarged kidneys. Microscopically congestion and predominantly mononuclear inflammatory infiltrates were evident and Plasmodium phanerozoites were present in the liver, spleen, kidneys, muscle and skin. Molecular testing and sequencing detected Plasmodium spp. and BAGV in different tissues of the partridges, and immunohistochemistry confirmed the presence and co-localization of both pathogens in the liver and spleen. Although Plasmodium spp. are known to be highly prevalent in red-legged partridges, this is the first account of mortality caused by co-infection with BAGV and Plasmodium sp. Due to the importance of the red-legged partridge in the ecosystem of the Iberian Peninsula and as driver of regional economy such mortalities are of concern. Also, they may reflect climate change related changes in host, vector and pathogen ecology and interactions that could emerge similarly in other pathogens.
03 Jan 2022Submitted to Transboundary and Emerging Diseases
04 Jan 2022Submission Checks Completed
04 Jan 2022Assigned to Editor
05 Jan 2022Reviewer(s) Assigned
05 May 2022Review(s) Completed, Editorial Evaluation Pending
06 May 2022Editorial Decision: Revise Minor
02 Jun 20221st Revision Received
02 Jun 2022Submission Checks Completed
02 Jun 2022Assigned to Editor
11 Jun 2022Reviewer(s) Assigned
01 Jul 2022Review(s) Completed, Editorial Evaluation Pending
06 Jul 2022Editorial Decision: Accept
Sep 2022Published in Transboundary and Emerging Diseases volume 69 issue 5. 10.1111/tbed.14658