Evidence for a New Avian Paramyxovirus Serotype 10 Detected in Rockhopper Penguins from the Falkland Islands

The biological, serological, and genomic characterization of a paramyxovirus recently isolated from rockhopper penguins (Eudyptes chrysocome) suggested that this virus represented a new avian paramyxovirus (APMV) group, APMV10. This penguin virus resembled other APMVs by electron microscopy; however, its viral hemagglutination (HA) activity was not inhibited by antisera against any of the nine defined APMV serotypes. In addition, antiserum generated against this penguin virus did not inhibit the HA of representative viruses of the other APMV serotypes. Sequence data produced using random priming methods revealed a genomic structure typical of APMV. Phylogenetic evaluation of coding regions revealed that amino acid sequences of all six proteins were most closely related to APMV2 and APMV8. The calculation of evolutionary distances among proteins and distances at the nucleotide level confirmed that APMV2, APMV8, and the penguin virus all were sufficiently divergent from each other to be considered different serotypes. We propose that this isolate, named APMV10/penguin/Falkland Islands/324/2007, be the prototype virus for APMV10. Because of the known problems associated with serology, such as antiserum cross-reactivity and one-way immunogenicity, in addition to the reliance on the immune response to a single protein, the hemagglutinin-neuraminidase, as the sole base for viral classification, we suggest the need for new classification guidelines that incorporate genome sequence comparisons.Viruses from the Paramyxoviridae family have caused disease in humans and animals for centuries. Over the last 40 years, many paramyxoviruses isolated from animals and people have been newly described (16, 17, 22, 29, 31, 32, 36, 42, 44, 46, 49, 58, 59, 62-64). Viruses from this family are pleomorphic, enveloped, single-stranded, nonsegmented, negative-sense RNA viruses that demonstrate serological cross-reactivity with other paramyxoviruses related to them (30, 46). The subfamily Paramyxovirinae is divided into five genera: Respirovirus, Morbillivirus, Rubulavirus, Henipavirus, and Avulavirus (30). The Avulavirus genus contains nine distinct avian paramyxovirus (APMV) serotypes (Table ​(Table1),1), and information on the discovery of each has been reported elsewhere (4, 6, 7, 9, 12, 34, 41, 50, 51, 60, 68).

TABLE 1.

Characteristics of prototype viruses APMV1 to APMV9 and the penguin virus

Strain	Host	Disease	Distribution	Fusion cleavagec	GI accession no.
APMV1/Newcastle disease virus	>250 species	High mortality	Worldwide	GRRQKRF	45511218
		Inapparent	Worldwide	GGRQGRLa	11545722
APMV2/Chicken/CA/Yucaipa/1956	Turkey, chickens, psittacines, rails, passerines	Decrease in egg production and respiratory disease	Worldwide	DKPASRF	169144527
APMV3/Turkey/WI/1968	Turkey	Mild respiratory disease and moderate egg decrease	Worldwide	PRPSGRLa	209484147
APMV3/Parakeet/Netherlands/449/1975	Psittacines, passerines, flamingos	Neurological, enteric, and respiratory disease	Worldwide	ARPRGRLa	171472314
APMV4/Duck/Hong Kong/D3/1975	Duck, geese, chickens	None known	Worldwide	VDIQPRF	210076708
APMV5/Budgerigar/Japan/Kunitachi/1974	Budgerigars, lorikeets	High mortality, enteric disease	Japan, United Kingdom, Australia	GKRKKRFa	290563909
APMV6/Duck/Hong Kong/199/1977	Ducks, geese, turkeys	Mild respiratory disease and increased mortality in turkeys	Worldwide	PAPEPRLb	15081567
APMV7/Dove/TN/4/1975	Pigeons, doves, turkeys	Mild respiratory disease in turkeys	United States, England, Japan	TLPSSRF	224979458
APMV8/Goose/DE/1053/1976	Ducks, geese	None known	United States, Japan	TYPQTRLa	226343050
APMV9/Duck/NY/22/1978	Ducks	None known	Worldwide	RIREGRIa	217068693
APMV10/Penguin/Falkland Islands/324/2007	Rockhopper penguins	None Known	Falkland Islands	DKPSQRIa	300432141

Open in a separate window^aRequires the addition of an exogenous protease.^bProtease requirement depends on the isolate examined.^cPutative.Six of these serotypes were classified in the latter half of the 1970s, when the most reliable assay available to classify paramyxoviruses was the hemagglutination inhibition (HI) assay (61). However, there are multiple problems associated with the use of serology, including the inability to classify some APMVs by comparing them to the sera of the nine defined APMVs alone (2, 8). In addition, one-way antigenicity and cross-reactivity between different serotypes have been documented for many years (4, 5, 14, 25, 29, 33, 34, 41, 51, 52, 60). The ability of APMVs, like other viruses, to show antigenic drift as it evolves over time (37, 43, 54) and the wide use and availability of precise molecular methods, such as PCR and genome sequencing, demonstrate the need for a more practical classification system.The genetic diversity of APMVs is still largely unexplored, as hundreds of avian species have never been surveyed for the presence of viruses that do not cause significant signs of disease or are not economically important. The emergence of H5N1 highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) virus as the cause of the largest outbreak of a virulent virus in poultry in the past 100 years has spurred the development of surveillance programs to better understand the ecology of avian influenza (AI) viruses in aquatic birds around the globe, and in some instances it has provided opportunities for observing other viruses in wild bird populations (15, 53). In 2007, as part of a seabird health surveillance program in the Falkland Islands (Islas Malvinas), oral and cloacal swabs and serum were collected from rockhopper penguins (Eudyptes chrysocome) and environmental/fecal swab pools were collected from other seabirds.While AI virus has not yet been isolated from penguins in the sub-Antarctic and Antarctic areas, there have been two reports of serum antibodies positive to H7 and H10 from the Adélie species (11, 40). Rare isolations of APMV1, both virulent (45) and of low virulence (8), have been reported from Antarctic penguins. Sera positive for APMV1 and AMPV2 have also been reported (21, 24, 38, 40, 53). Since 1981, paramyxoviruses have been isolated from king penguins (Aptenodytes patagonicus), royal penguins (Eudyptes schlegeli), and Adélie penguins (Pygoscelis adeliae) from Antarctica and little blue penguins (Eudyptula minor) from Australia that cannot be identified as belonging to APMV1 to -9 and have not yet been classified (8, 11, 38-40). The morphology, biological and genomic characteristics, and antigenic relatedness of an APMV recently isolated from multiple penguin colonies on the Falkland Islands are reported here. Evidence that the virus belongs to a new serotype (APMV10) and a demonstration of the advantages of a whole genome system of analysis based on random sequencing followed by comparison of genetic distances are presented. Only after all APMVs are reported and classified will epidemiological information be known as to how the viruses are moving and spreading as the birds travel and interact with other avian species.