mNGS detection of bandavirus in liver, lung, spleen and brain tissues in a 2020 mortality event among black vulture (Coragyps atratus). Coragyps atratus strain:Bandavirus

Investigations of wildlife disease events can often lead to inconclusive results due to limitations in veterinary diagnostics combined with an ever-increasing number of emerging viruses transmitted by vectors such as mosquitoes and ticks. Using unbiased metagenomic next generation sequencing (mNGS) can facilitate the identification of a causative agent where investigations with conventional diagnostic tools go unresolved. We performed a retrospectiv emNGS analysis of RNA isolated from post-mortem samples collected during a black vulture (Coragyps atratus, family: Cathartidae) mortality event that occurred in eastern Pennsylvania and western New Jersey in 2020. We describe the discovery and identification of a novel species of bandavirus (Phenuviridae family) in case specimens from this die-off. The Bandavirus genus comprises various viral species that have been isolated from ticks across five continents and have reported outbreaks in human, avian, and other mammalian hosts, making them important potential sources of zoonotic spillover events. Genomic and phylogenetic analysis of the bandavirus detected in this study indicate its closest relative corresponds to Hunter Island virus, a bandavirus previously implicated in albatross mortality events off the coast of Tasmania. Follow-up PCR testing of samples from additional vultures from the same cohort confirmed that this new bandavirus is the likely cause of death.