Viral communities and identification of a parvovirus and two picornaviruses in geese with gout

In recent years, an emerging infectious disease characterized by urate deposition in viscera and joints has outbreak in the goose farms of China, causing substantial economic losses. Although goose astrovirus (GoAstV) was believed to be the main causative pathogen, several studies have shown that co-infection with other viruses, such as goose parvovirus, alongside astrovirus, may exacerbate the disease condition. In our previous research, we isolated a goose astrovirus with a novel type of recombination that causes fatal gout in geese in Shanghai, China. By analyzing the viral community using viral metagenomics data of fecal, kidney and liver samples of geese with gout, we found that parvoviruses and picornaviruses occupied a substantial proportion, suggesting their potential involvement in the etiology of goose gout. To determine if there were other causative viruses present in these geese, fecal, kidney, and liver samples were deeply sequenced using viral metagenomics. The results indicated that goose parvovirus and picornavirus constituted the predominant part of all or partial viral communities. Subsequently, the genomes and genomic structures of two picornaviruses, as well as a parvovirus, were determined. Phylogenetic analysis revealed that this parvovirus, named dependoparvovirus_CH_SH01, belongs to the Parvovirinae subfamily within the family Parvoviridae, while the two picornaviruses were classified within the Megrivirus (megrivirus_CH_SH01) or Ludopivirus (ludopivirus_CH_SH01) genus within the Kodimesavirinae subfamily, respectively. Recombination analysis suggested that megrivirus_CH_SH01 was a potential recombinant virus between two megriviruses. Our study suggested that infections with viruses other than astrovirus may be associated with the occurrence of goose gout. Additionally, this work has enriched the virus sequence information for Megrivirus and picornaviruses.