Detection of Torque teno midi virus/Small anellovirus (TTMDV/SAV) in the sera of domestic village chickens and its vertical transmission from hen to eggs

Although the infection of different animals and non-human primates with other members of Anelloviridae have already been reported there is no report about infection of animals with Torque teno midi virus/Small anellovirs (TTMDV/SAV). The aim of this study was to detect the virus in domestic village chickens. Blood samples were collected from 79 domestic village chickens in Isfahan. Blood samples of five adult laying hens and one cockerel were collected in three consecutive weeks (days 1, 8 and 14) as experimental chickens. Ten eggs were randomly collected from the eggs laid during days 12 to 17 and thin and thick egg whites and yolk samples were collected aseptically. After DNA extraction Nested-PCR was performed using SMAs/SMAr primers. In PCR, 431 bp and 441 bp products were detected. The detected bands were extracted and sequenced. Totally 26 out of 79 (32.9%) of the blood samples were positive for the virus. The frequency of the infection of the different parts of the eggs tested was 76%. For the first time TTMDV/SAV was detected in domestic village chickens which also vertically transmitted to eggs.