The drivers of squirrelpox virus dynamics in its grey squirrel reservoir host

Chantrey, J ORCID: 0000-0002-4801-7034, Dale, TD, Jones, david, Begon, ME ORCID: 0000-0003-1715-5327 and Fenton, AC ORCID: 0000-0002-7676-917X (2019) The drivers of squirrelpox virus dynamics in its grey squirrel reservoir host. Epidemics, 28. pp. 1-9.

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Abstract

Manypathogensofconservationconcerncirculateendemicallywithinnaturalwildlifereservoirhostsanditisimperativetounderstandtheindividualandecologicaldriversofnaturaltransmissiondynamics,ifanythreattoarelatedendangeredspeciesistobeassessed.Ourstudyhighlightsthekeydriversofinfectionandsheddingdynamicsofsquirrelpoxvirus(SQPV)initsreservoirgreysquirrel(Sciurus carolinensis)population.ToclarifySQPV dynamics in this population, longitudinal data from a 16-month mark-recapture study were analysed,combining serology with real-time quantitative PCR to identify periods of acute viraemia and chronic viralshedding. At the population level, we found SQPV infection prevalence, viral load and shedding varied sea-sonally,peakinginautumnandearlyspring.Individually,SQPVwasshowntobeachronicinfectionin>80%ofgreysquirrels,withviralloadspersistingovertimeandboutsofpotentialrecrudescenceorreinfectionoc-curring.AkeyrecurringfactorsignificantlyassociatedwithSQPVinfectionriskwasthepresenceofco-infectingsquirrel adenovirus (ADV). In dual infected squirrels, longitudinal analysis showed that prior ADV viraemiaincreasedthesubsequentSQPVloadintheblood.However,therewasastrong,negativeassociationbetweenpriorADVviraemiaandsubsequentSQPVsheddingfromtheforearm,probablycausedbyADVprolongingtheSQPVacuteviraemicphase,sodelayingonsetofthechronicsheddingphase,andtherebyalteringviralsheddingpatternsoverthetimescalesexaminedhere.Hence,co-circulatingADVinfectionmaybeinvolvedinmediatingboththequantitativelevelsofSQPVinfectionandthetiminganddegreeofsubsequentinfectiousnessofgreysquirrels.

Item Type:	Article
Uncontrolled Keywords:	Grey squirrel, Wildlife, Infectious disease, Epidemiology, Co-infection, Adenovirus, Spill over, Viral load
Depositing User:	Symplectic Admin
Date Deposited:	30 Jul 2019 08:47
Last Modified:	19 Jan 2023 00:36
DOI:	10.1016/j.epidem.2019.100352
Open Access URL:	https://doi.org/10.1016/j.epidem.2019.100352
Related URLs:	Author Publisher
URI:	https://livrepository.liverpool.ac.uk/id/eprint/3050606