Experimental Usutu virus infection in Eurasian blackbirds (Turdus merula)

Gianfilippo Agliani; Imke Visser; Eleanor M Marshall; Giuseppe Giglia; Erwin de Bruin; Ruben Verstappen; Tjomme van Mastrigt; Felicity Chandler; Reina Sikkema; Henk van der Jeugd; Marion P G Koopmans; Andrea Gröne; Barry Rockx; Judith M A van den Brand

doi:10.1038/s44298-025-00133-w

Experimental Usutu virus infection in Eurasian blackbirds (Turdus merula)

Gianfilippo Agliani, Imke Visser, Eleanor M Marshall, Giuseppe Giglia, Erwin de Bruin, Ruben Verstappen, Tjomme van Mastrigt, Felicity Chandler, Reina Sikkema, Henk van der Jeugd, Marion P G Koopmans, Andrea Gröne, Barry Rockx^*, Judith M A van den Brand^*

^*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › Academic › peer-review

Abstract

Usutu virus (USUV) is a zoonotic arbovirus causing disease in wild birds and humans. Eurasian blackbirds (Turdus merula) are highly susceptible to infection, developing severe lesions with high mortality rates during outbreaks. The pathogenesis and clinical course of the acute disease in birds are not known. Therefore, six blackbirds were infected with two USUV lineages (Africa 3 and Europe 3). The blackbirds were monitored for clinical signs of disease and activity levels and were sampled for virus detection. All infected blackbirds showed severe disease after 4 to 7 days, with no significant differences between the lineages. Reaching a humane endpoint, the blackbirds were euthanized, and tissue samples were collected for histopathology and virology. At histopathology, lesions were seen in the main target organs with the associated presence of infectious virus and viral antigen. In conclusion, blackbirds can be infected experimentally with USUV and show similar disease as seen in natural infection.

Original language	English
Article number	51
Number of pages	10
Journal	Npj viruses
Volume	3
Issue number	1
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1038/s44298-025-00133-w
Publication status	Published - 20 Jun 2025

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Experimental Usutu virus infection in Eurasian blackbirds (Turdus merula)Final published version, 1.99 MBLicence: CC BY

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Agliani, G., Visser, I., Marshall, E. M., Giglia, G., de Bruin, E., Verstappen, R., van Mastrigt, T., Chandler, F., Sikkema, R., van der Jeugd, H., Koopmans, M. P. G., Gröne, A., Rockx, B., & van den Brand, J. M. A. (2025). Experimental Usutu virus infection in Eurasian blackbirds (Turdus merula). Npj viruses, 3(1), Article 51. https://doi.org/10.1038/s44298-025-00133-w

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title = "Experimental Usutu virus infection in Eurasian blackbirds (Turdus merula)",

abstract = "Usutu virus (USUV) is a zoonotic arbovirus causing disease in wild birds and humans. Eurasian blackbirds (Turdus merula) are highly susceptible to infection, developing severe lesions with high mortality rates during outbreaks. The pathogenesis and clinical course of the acute disease in birds are not known. Therefore, six blackbirds were infected with two USUV lineages (Africa 3 and Europe 3). The blackbirds were monitored for clinical signs of disease and activity levels and were sampled for virus detection. All infected blackbirds showed severe disease after 4 to 7 days, with no significant differences between the lineages. Reaching a humane endpoint, the blackbirds were euthanized, and tissue samples were collected for histopathology and virology. At histopathology, lesions were seen in the main target organs with the associated presence of infectious virus and viral antigen. In conclusion, blackbirds can be infected experimentally with USUV and show similar disease as seen in natural infection.",

author = "Gianfilippo Agliani and Imke Visser and Marshall, \{Eleanor M\} and Giuseppe Giglia and \{de Bruin\}, Erwin and Ruben Verstappen and \{van Mastrigt\}, Tjomme and Felicity Chandler and Reina Sikkema and \{van der Jeugd\}, Henk and Koopmans, \{Marion P G\} and Andrea Gr{\"o}ne and Barry Rockx and \{van den Brand\}, \{Judith M A\}",

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doi = "10.1038/s44298-025-00133-w",

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T1 - Experimental Usutu virus infection in Eurasian blackbirds (Turdus merula)

AU - Agliani, Gianfilippo

AU - Visser, Imke

AU - Marshall, Eleanor M

AU - Giglia, Giuseppe

AU - de Bruin, Erwin

AU - Verstappen, Ruben

AU - van Mastrigt, Tjomme

AU - Chandler, Felicity

AU - Sikkema, Reina

AU - van der Jeugd, Henk

AU - Koopmans, Marion P G

AU - Gröne, Andrea

AU - Rockx, Barry

AU - van den Brand, Judith M A

PY - 2025/6/20

Y1 - 2025/6/20

N2 - Usutu virus (USUV) is a zoonotic arbovirus causing disease in wild birds and humans. Eurasian blackbirds (Turdus merula) are highly susceptible to infection, developing severe lesions with high mortality rates during outbreaks. The pathogenesis and clinical course of the acute disease in birds are not known. Therefore, six blackbirds were infected with two USUV lineages (Africa 3 and Europe 3). The blackbirds were monitored for clinical signs of disease and activity levels and were sampled for virus detection. All infected blackbirds showed severe disease after 4 to 7 days, with no significant differences between the lineages. Reaching a humane endpoint, the blackbirds were euthanized, and tissue samples were collected for histopathology and virology. At histopathology, lesions were seen in the main target organs with the associated presence of infectious virus and viral antigen. In conclusion, blackbirds can be infected experimentally with USUV and show similar disease as seen in natural infection.

AB - Usutu virus (USUV) is a zoonotic arbovirus causing disease in wild birds and humans. Eurasian blackbirds (Turdus merula) are highly susceptible to infection, developing severe lesions with high mortality rates during outbreaks. The pathogenesis and clinical course of the acute disease in birds are not known. Therefore, six blackbirds were infected with two USUV lineages (Africa 3 and Europe 3). The blackbirds were monitored for clinical signs of disease and activity levels and were sampled for virus detection. All infected blackbirds showed severe disease after 4 to 7 days, with no significant differences between the lineages. Reaching a humane endpoint, the blackbirds were euthanized, and tissue samples were collected for histopathology and virology. At histopathology, lesions were seen in the main target organs with the associated presence of infectious virus and viral antigen. In conclusion, blackbirds can be infected experimentally with USUV and show similar disease as seen in natural infection.

U2 - 10.1038/s44298-025-00133-w

DO - 10.1038/s44298-025-00133-w

M3 - Article

C2 - 40542200

SN - 2948-1767

VL - 3

JO - Npj viruses

JF - Npj viruses

IS - 1

M1 - 51

ER -

Experimental Usutu virus infection in Eurasian blackbirds (Turdus merula)

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