Occurrence and Phylogenetic Analysis of Avian Coronaviruses in Domestic Pigeons (Columba livia domestica) in Poland between 2016 and 2020

Abstract

While disease control in racing pigeons and the potential role of pigeons as vectors transmitting viruses to poultry are of importance, there is still a paucity of data concerning the occurrence of coronaviruses in pigeons. In this study, 215 domestic pigeons were tested for the presence of coronaviral genetic material using the nested PCR method, which revealed 57 positive samples (26.51%). The difference in coronavirus prevalence between young and adult pigeons (34.34% and 19.83%, respectively) has been found statistically significant. In contrast, no statistically significant difference has been demonstrated between the prevalence in symptomatic and asymptomatic birds, leaving the influence of coronavirus presence on pigeon health uncertain. Phylogenetic analysis of the RdRp gene fragment allowed us to assign all the obtained strains to the Gammacoronavirus genus and Igacovirus subgenus. The phylogenetic tree plotted using the ML method revealed that those sequences formed a group most similar to pigeon coronavirus strains from China, Finland, and Poland, and to a single strain from a common starling from Poland, which suggests wide geographical distribution of the virus and its possible transmission between various species.