Meeting Abstract
Arthropod-borne virus (arbovirus) infections are known to exhibit age-dependent patterns of virulence in their hosts, with the young and old often being the most susceptible to severe infection. In very young mammals and birds, infections with a specific class of arboviruses, called alphaviruses, often result in neuroinvasive disease, impaired growth, and digestive function disturbance. The mechanism by which these viruses impair growth and digestive function is likely complex and not fully understood. In birds, developmental and digestive impairment due to alphavirus infection is evident in both precocial and altricial nestlings, although more severe disease symptoms have been recorded in my laboratory in altricial nestlings compared to precocial nestlings. Alphavirus infection impairs bone growth, tissue maturation, digestive enzyme production, and digestive efficiency in altricial nestling birds in laboratory settings and growth impairment and poor survival have been recorded in nestling birds with alphavirus infections in the wild. This work highlights the high cost of viral infections in young animals and the potentially dire consequences on development and survival.
