Abstract
It is well established that different orders of birds vary widely in their susceptibility to and severity of West Nile virus (WNV) infection, but the reasons for this continuum of susceptibility are unknown. Previous studies have shown that antibody-mediated immune responses are required to effectively clear WNV and provide long-term protection, but a comparative analysis of immune responses following WNV infection in multiple avian species has yet to be reported. Here we report the results of a comparative analysis of the antibody-mediated immune responses of three avian species (domestic chicken, pigeon and vesper sparrow) following WNV infection and report on the development of several immunoassays to compare innate immune responses of various avian species. Future work in this area will dramatically improve our understanding avian immune responses to WNV infection, and the factors involved in avian susceptibility to WNV.