Molecular Surveillance of Common Peridomestic Wild Birds as Potential Hosts for Selected Zoonotic Viruses within Ibadan, Nigeria

Wild birds have been known to be carriers and reservoir hosts for many zoonotic viruses. This necessitated this study which is aimed at detecting some zoonotic viruses in the faeces of selected peridomestic wild birds within Ibadan, Southwest Nigeria. Peridomestic wild birds are defined for this study as wild birds that live close to, or are kept close to, human habitations, either for commercial purposes, entertainment purposes or as pets. In carrying this out, faeces and cloacal swabs were collected from 110 birds from the avian families Columbidae, Psattaculidae, Anatidae, Ardeidae, Ploceidae, Phansianidae and Accipitridae across different locations across the city of Ibadan for a period of 12 months and screened for Alphaviruses, Flaviviruses, Rift Valley fever virus and Avian Paramyxovirus (Newcastle Disease Virus) using genus-specific and species-specific primers in a rtPCR method. The amplicons were subjected to 3 – 5% agarose gel electrophoresis for detection of the targeted amplified sequences. None of the targeted viral sequences was detected in the samples, showing the absence of the suspected viruses among the birds screened in this city. It is recommended that further surveillances of other species and genera of birds be continually carried out in order for early detection before potential outbreaks.