Experimental cross species transmission of a major viral pathogen in bees is predominantly from honeybees to bumblebees.

ABSTRACT: Cross-species transmission of a pathogen from a reservoir to a recipient host species, spillover, can have major impacts on biodiversity, domestic species and human health. Deformed wing virus (DWV) is a panzootic RNA virus in honeybees that is causal in their elevated colony losses, and several correlative field studies have suggested spillover of DWV from managed honeybees to wild bee species such as bumblebees. Yet unequivocal demonstration of DWV spillover is lacking, while spillback, the transmission of DWV from a recipient back to the reservoir host, is rarely considered. Here, we show in fully crossed laboratory experiments that the transmission of DWV (genotype A) from honeybees to bumblebees occurs readily, yet we neither detected viral transmission from bumblebees to honey

SUBMITTER: Tehel A 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8848241 | biostudies-literature | 2022 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature