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Passive Immunity to West Nile Virus Provides Limited Protection in a Common Passerine Species

Passerine birds have played an important role in the establishment, maintenance, and spread of West Nile virus (WNV) in North America, and some are susceptible to WNV-associated mortality. Characterization of passive transfer of anti-WNV antibodies in passerines is important to understanding transmission and demographic effects of WNV on wild birds. We showed passively acquired maternal antibodies to WNV in the house sparrow (Passer domesticus). Although all seropositive females (N = 18) produced antibody-positive egg yolks, only 20% of seropositive mothers (3/15) produced seropositive chicks. The estimated average half-life of maternal antibodies in chick sera was 3 days, and no antibodies were detected after 9 days post-hatch (DPH). Maternal antibodies failed to provide protection against viremia in chicks at 21–25 DPH. Although the observed duration of persistence of passively inherited anti-WNV antibodies in house sparrows differs from some non-passerine birds, it remains unknown whether similar patterns occur in other passerines.

Received January 29, 2008. Accepted for publication April 20, 2008.

Acknowledgments: The authors thank Ginger Young and Stacey Elmore for invaluable help in hand-rearing sparrow chicks during the challenge portion of the study and Paul Gordy for logistical support. We also thank Nick Komar and two anonymous reviewers for contributions toward improving the manuscript.

Financial support: This research was funded by NIH Contract N01-AI25489, Emerging Infectious Viral Disease Unit.

^* Address correspondence to Nicole M. Nemeth, Department of Microbiology, Immunology and Pathology, 3801 West Rampart Road, Foothills Campus, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO 80523-1683. E-mail: nnemeth{at}colostate.edu

Authors’ addresses: Nicole M. Nemeth, Department of Microbiology, Immunology and Pathology, 3801 West Rampart Road, Foothills Campus, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO 80523-1683, Tel: 970-491-8165, Fax: 970-491-3557, E-mail: nnemeth{at}colostate.edu. Paul T. Oesterle, Department of Fish, Wildlife and Conservation, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO 80521 and National Wildlife Research Center, USDA/APHIS/WS, Fort Collins, CO 80521, Tel: 970-266-6149, Fax: 970-266-6138, E-mail: Paul.T.Oesterle{at}aphis.usda.gov. Richard A. Bowen, Department of Biomedical Sciences, 3801 West Rampart Road, Foothills Campus, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO 80523-1683, Tel: 970-491-5768, Fax: 970-491-3557, E-mail: rbowen{at}colostate.edu.