Avipoxvirus in Egypt and African continent: A review

Lebdah, Mohamed A.; Hassanin, Ola A.; Ali, Amira M.I.

doi:10.21608/zvjz.2019.14077.1052

Avipoxvirus in Egypt and African continent: A review

Document Type : Review Article

Authors

¹ Department of Avian and Rabbit Medicine, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Zagazig University, Zagazig, 44511 Egypt

² The Veterinary Clinic, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Zagazig University, Zagazig, 44511 Egypt

10.21608/zvjz.2019.14077.1052

Abstract

Fowl pox disease is a slow-spreading viral infection of wild and domesticated birds of both genders, all ages and breeds. The disease occurs in two distinct forms; the more common cutaneous or dry form and the less common diphtheritic form. Fowl poxvirus (FWPV) is a member of the Avipoxvirus (APV) and it is one of the greatest challenges facing the poultry industry, its incidence is higher in tropical and subtropical countries. It causes a significant level of morbidity and increased mortality, especially in the diphtheritic form which may reach to 50%. Avipoxvirus has been recorded in Egypt and Africa in the early of 1960, since then, it has been recorded in variable domesticated and wild bird species in different countries and Governorates. The free-living and wild birds represent a potential threat and source of infection for the domesticated poultry species. In the last ten years, the phylogenetic analysis of the partial genome sequences has gained insight into the evolutionary biology of APV in Africa. One of the main characters of APV is relative genetic stability, especially in fpv167 region of the genome. This area of the genome clustered the APV of chicken and turkey origin phylogenetically into fowl poxvirus subclade A1 together with other avipoxviruses (APVs) isolated from Galliformes worldwide. However, the pigeon poxviruses phylogenetically belong to subclade A2 with other APVs isolated from Columbiformes worldwide. The analysis of the fpv140 region provides a further comprehensive taxonomic classification based on the virus-host origin and distribution, especially in the case of the pigeon poxvirus (PGPV), which clustered separately into different subclades according to their geographical distribution. This review focus on the origin, distribution, classification and taxonomy of APVs circulating in Egypt mainly with a brief report on the situation of APVs in the other neighboring.

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