Avian Interferon-Inducible Transmembrane Protein Family Effectively Restricts Avian Tembusu Virus Infection

Chen, Shilong; Wang, Long; Chen, Jieying; Zhang, Lanlan; Wang, Song; Goraya, Mohsan U.; Chi, Xiaojuan; Na, Yang; Shao, Wenhan; Yang, Zhou; Zeng, Xiancheng; Chen, Shaoying; Chen, Ji-Long

The inoculated ducklings began to display clinical symptoms on day 4 post-infection (dpi) characterized by anorexia and weight loss. Two infected ducklings got slight legs paralysis and were reluctant to move on 4-7 dpi. Infected ducklings developed a fever, showing that rectal temperatures increased from day 3 to day 7 post-inoculation and then gradually returned to normal from 8 to 10 dpi (Figure 1D ). At necropsy, no lesions were observed except swollen spleens on 1-3 dpi. No duckling was died throughout the monitoring period. Later on IFA test was carried out to detect viral antigens. We observed that viral antigens were detectable in the spleen, kidney, and bursa of fabricius tissues, with a higher viral burden in the spleens (Figures 1A,B) . Surprisingly, viremia (10 1.25 TCID 50 /0.1mL) was observed in serum samples from 1 to 3 dpi ( Figure 1C) . No virus was detected in other tissues including brain, pancreas, and liver. All the ducklings in control group were healthy and no viral antigen was detected. These findings indicate that ATMUV exhibits mild pathogenicity in young ducklings following intramuscular injection.