Detection and characterisation of a new astrovirus in chicken and turkeys with enteric and locomotion disorders

International audienceIn this paper, we report the unexpected discovery of a new virus in samples from chicken and turkey flocks with clinical disorders such as tenosynovitis, enteric problems, or runting and/or stunting-like problems. Since 1987, several virus isolation attempts on samples from these flocks resulted in the same, macroscopic characteristic lesions in embryonated SPF eggs, being mortality with bright red discoloration of legs and wing-tips, a swollen dark-red liver and oedema. Initial work showed characteristics of a non-enveloped RNA virus. Further work, which is described in this paper, showed that the isolated strains formed a new group of avian nephritis viruses (ANV), which is genetically and antigenically distinct from known avian astroviruses (AAstVs). Inoculation of a representative strain (isolate 19) of this new group of ANV, provisionally named avian nephritis virus-3 (ANV-3), in SPF layer chicks resulted in diarrhea, runting and stunting and even mortality