Further studies are necessary to determine the role of these penguin species in the ecology of the AOaV-1, as well as the pathogenic potential of this virus in these animal populations. Supplementary Material Table_S1-S3Click here to view.(21K, docx) ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS This paper is dedicated to the memory of Dr. the highest seropositivity rate (30.3%), suggesting it could be a natural reservoir of this virus. At the Antarctic zones, Chinstrap penguin showed the highest occurrence (7.5%). Interesting, positive sera was only obtained in Sub-Antarctic and Northern zones at the Antarctic peninsula, no seroreactivity was observed in Southern locations. Further studies are needed to establish the role of these penguin species MK 0893 in the epidemiology of the AOaV-1 and determine the effects of this virus in these populations. (AOaV-1), formerly known as (AAvV-1), MK 0893 (APMV-1) and (NDV), belongs to the family (International Committee on Taxonomy of Viruses (ICTV), 2019). AOaV-1 causes Newcastle disease, one of the most important and contagious infections in poultry, which negatively affects production and trade (Paramyxoviridae & Pneumoviridae, 2017). Wild birds, including aquatic/migratory birds, may act as natural reservoir hosts of AOaV-1 and may play a remarkable role in the spread of the virus in the environment (Rahman et al., 2018). Although there are studies that have evaluated the presence of avian paramyxoviruses in penguins, only a few reports have confirmed the presence of AOaV-1 in this species (Table S1). To MK 0893 date, there is evidence of AOaV-1 infecting Adlie (= 292), Gentoo (= 263) and Adelie (= 81) penguins in Antarctica during Chilean Antarctic Scientific Expeditions in 2017 (= 92), 2018 (= 248) and 2019 (= 296), organized by the Chilean Antarctic Institute (INACH). The sampling locations were distributed in three Antarctic regions: Northwest, Midwest and Southwest of the Antarctic Peninsula. The Northwest region (Northwest Peninsula and South Shetland Islands) included eight sampling locations: Ardley Island, Harmony Point on Nelson Island, Barrientos Island, Cape Shirreff on Livingston Island, Hannah Point on Livingston MK 0893 Island, Lions Rump on King George Island, Low Island, and Bernardo OHiggins General Base on the Antarctic Peninsula. The Midwest region included three sampling locations: Biscoe Point on Anvers Island, President Gabriel Gonzlez Videla Base on Paradise Bay, and Yelcho Base on Doumer Island. The Southwest region included three sampling locations: Avian Island, Lagotellerie Island and Emperor Island (Table 1; Figure 1a). The remaining samples were obtained from King penguins (= 38) at Baha Intil, Tierra del Fuego, between 2014 and 2018, and from Magellanic penguins (= 33) on Magdalena Island, Strait of Magellan in 2011 (Table 2; Figure 1b). Open in a separate window FIGURE 1 Map of sampling sites on the Antarctic Peninsula (a) and continental area of the Magallanes region (b). Sampling locations are shown in coloured dots, with green dots representing NDV positive sites and in red the negative. Seropositivity pie charts are shown for each location using the same colour code, and their size is proportional to the sample number TABLE 1 Penguin species, sampling locations and serological results against NDV in the Antarctic Peninsula (+) seropositive samples, samples total, % relative frequency. aGabriel Gonzlez Videla Base. TABLE 2 Penguin species, sampling locations and serological results against NDV in the continental area of the Magallanes region, by penguin species (+) seropositive samples, samples total, % relative frequency. Blood samples were obtained by venipuncture in the common plantar digital vein. To achieve this, the penguins were caught with a net, the eyes covered with a black cloth, and gently restrained in a prone position to expose the feet. The samples were centrifuged for 10 min at 800 and the resulting sera were stored at ?20C Rabbit polyclonal to ACD until use. Antibodies against AOaV-1 nucleoprotein were detected using a multispecies competitive ELISA commercial kit (ID Screen? Newcastle Disease Competition, IDVet), following manufacturers recommendations. ELISA results were expressed as percent inhibition values (PI), according to manufacturers instructions, where a PI greater than 40 was considered positive, between 30 and 40 suspect and lower than 30 negative. Suspect samples were considered as negative in the seropositivity calculation. According to a ShapiroCWilk test, the data do not follow a normal distribution. Overall results of PI (antibody levels) were compared by species and location using a KruskalCWallis test followed by Conovers multiple comparisons test. To determine differences between year of collection for each location, KruskalCWallis or MannCWhitney test were performed. In addition, chi-square and Fishers exact test were performed to determine the association between region and species, with the purpose of collinearity, confounding factor checking and logistic regression model building approach. Subsequently, a simple logistic regression analysis was performed to assess for the effect of the specie as potential risk factors to NDV positivity (Dohoo et al., 2010). Goodness-of-fit was assessed using the Hosmer and Lemeshow Test (Hosmer et al., 2013). Statistically significant differences were set at .05) [Colour figure can be looked at at wileyonlinelibrary.com] Among Antarctic and sub-Antarctic locations, the Magellanic penguin and, therefore, Magdalena Isle, had the best antibody degrees of all the types (= 109.17, = 4, .05, .05) based on the multiple comparison check as shown.