20.500.12556/RUL-132126 Herpesvirus infection in a breeding population of two coexisting Strix owls Birds are a frequent host of a large variety of herpesviruses, and infections in them may go unnoticed or may result in fatal disease. In wild breeding populations of owls, there is very limited information about the presence, impact, and potential transmission of herpesvirus. The herpesvirus partial DNA polymerase gene was detected using polymerase chain reaction in oropharyngeal swabs of 16 out of 170 owls examined that were captured in or near nest boxes. Herpesvirus was detected in Ural owls (Strix uralensis), in both adults and young, but not in tawny owls (Strix aluco). In yellow-necked mice (Apodemus flavicollis), as the main prey of tawny owls and Ural owls in the area, herpesvirus was detected in the organs of 2 out of 40 mice captured at the same locations as the owls. Phylogenetic analysis showed that the herpesvirus sequences detected in the Ural owls differed from the herpesvirus sequences detected in the yellow-necked mice. The results indicate that herpesvirus infection exists in the breeding wild Ural owl population. However, herpesvirus-infected owls did not show any clinical or productivity deviances and, based on a phylogenetic comparison of detected herpesvirus sequences and sequences obtained from Genbank database, it seems that mice and other rodents are not the source of owl infections. The most probable transmission pathway is intraspecific, especially from adults to their chicks, but the origin of herpesvirus in owls remains to be investigated. wildlife predator-prey interaction disease transmission Ural owl tawny owl yellow-necked mouse polymerase chain reaction Slovenia Herpesviridae infections Strigiformes true false true Angleški jezik Ni določen Članek v reviji 2021-10-13 13:24:25 2021-10-13 13:24:26 2022-09-12 04:11:09 0000-00-00 00:00:00 2021 0 0 11 str. iss. 9, art. 2519 Vol. 11 2021 0000-00-00 Zaloznikova Objavljeno NiDoloceno 0000-00-00 0000-00-00 0000-00-00 636.09:616:578 2076-2615 10.3390/ani11092519 74512899 RAZ_Zlabravec_Zoran_2021.pdf RAZ_Zlabravec_Zoran_2021.pdf 1 5AD965AE2084BA835EC566288DB931D6 e3003e8ca4dc8438444cb13f9a6f48b0097e3699d5c1449ba813d56d431b9f5b f49589d0-2c18-11ec-abdb-00155dcfd717 https://repozitorij.uni-lj.si/Dokument.php?lang=slv&id=149661 https://www.mdpi.com/2076-2615/11/9/2519 0 1fe44509-2c18-11ec-abdb-00155dcfd717 https://repozitorij.uni-lj.si/Dokument.php?lang=slv&id=149659 Veterinarska fakulteta 0 0 0