HISTOPATHOLOGIC AND MOLECULAR CHARACTERIZATION OF AVIPOXVIRUSES IN THE STATE OF SAO PAULO

• Grant number: 24/12804-1
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Scientific Initiation
• Start date: September 01, 2024
• End date: August 31, 2025
• Field of knowledge: Agronomical Sciences - Veterinary Medicine - Animal Pathology
• Principal Investigator: Juliana Mariotti Guerra
• Grantee: Beatriz Rosa Cravo
• Host Institution: Instituto Adolfo Lutz (IAL). Coordenadoria de Controle de Doenças (CCD). Secretaria da Saúde (São Paulo - Estado). São Paulo , SP, Brazil

Abstract

Avian poxviruses are members of the genus Avipoxvirus (AVP), within the Poxviridae family, with around 10 species currently described. Infections caused by these viruses have been already identified in more than 200 species of domestic and wild birds. AVPs cause avian pox, a nodular proliferative disease that presents two main clinical manifestations, cutaneous and diphtheritic, with high morbidity in affected animals. In this regard, the present study aims to characterize the morphological and molecular nature of AVP infections in different wild bird species in the State of São Paulo. To this end, a retrospective and prospective study will be carried out on cases of wild birds with histopathological examination suggestive of AVP infection received by the Pathology Center of the Adolfo Lutz Institute, from 2018 to 2024. To characterize the AVP strain involved in each case, the anatomopathological lesions will be categorized and correlated with molecular analyses through polymerase chain reaction (PCR), sequencing, and phylogenetic studies. The results of this project will contribute to knowledge about the occurrence and diversity of AVP in different wild birds in the State of São Paulo, its impacts on the conservation of Brazilian wild birds and the risks of transmission to commercial birds, resulting in economic losses. The results of this project will contribute to the knowledge about the occurrence and diversity of AVP in different wild birds in the State of São Paulo, its impacts on the conservation of Brazilian birds and the risks and losses involved in the transmission of avian pox to commercial birds.