Meta-transcriptomic analysis of virus diversity in urban wild birds with paretic disease

Wild birds are major natural reservoirs and potential dispersers of a variety of infectious diseases. As such, it is important to determine the diversity of viruses they carry and use this information to help understand the potential risks of spill-over to humans, domestic animals, and other wildlife. We investigated the potential viral causes of paresis in long-standing, but undiagnosed disease syndromes in wild Australian birds. RNA from diseased birds was extracted and pooled based on tissue type, host species and clinical manifestation for metagenomic sequencing. Using a bulk and unbiased meta-transcriptomic approach, combined with careful clinical investigation and histopathology, we identified a number of novel viruses from the families Astroviridae, Picornaviridae, Polyomaviridae, Paramyxoviridae, Parvoviridae, Flaviviridae, and Circoviridae in common urban wild birds including Australian magpies, magpie lark, pied currawongs, Australian ravens, and rainbow lorikeets. In each case the presence of the virus was confirmed by RT-PCR. These data revealed a number of candidate viral pathogens that may contribute to coronary, skeletal muscle, vascular and neuropathology in birds of the Corvidae and Artamidae families, and neuropathology in members of the Psittaculidae. The existence of such a diverse virome in urban avian species highlights the importance and challenges in elucidating the etiology and ecology of wildlife pathogens in urban environments. This information will be increasingly important for managing disease risks and conducting surveillance for potential viral threats to wildlife, livestock and human health. More broadly, our work shows how meta-transcriptomics brings a new utility to pathogen discovery in wildlife diseases.