Red fox viromes across an urban-rural gradient

Abstract

The Red fox (Vulpes vulpes) has established large populations in Australias urban and rural areas since its introduction following European settlement. Foxes cryptic and highly adaptable nature allows them to invade cities and live among humans while remaining largely unnoticed. Urban living and access to anthropogenic food resources also influences fox ecology. Urban foxes grow larger, live at higher densities and are more social than their rural counterparts. These ecological changes in urban red foxes are likely to impact the pathogens that they harbour, and foxes could pose a disease risk to humans and other species that share these urban spaces. To assess this possibility, we used a meta-transcriptomic approach to characterise the viromes of urban and rural foxes across the Greater Sydney region in Australia. Urban and rural foxes differed significantly in virome composition, with rural foxes harbouring a greater abundance of viruses compared to their urban counterparts. In contrast, urban fox viromes comprised a greater diversity of viruses compared to rural foxes. We identified nine potentially novel vertebrate-associated viruses in both urban and rural foxes, some of which are related to viruses associated with disease in domestic species and humans. These included members of the Astroviridae, Picobirnaviridae, Hepeviridae and Picornaviridae as well as rabbit haemorrhagic disease virus-2 (RHDV2). This study sheds light on the viruses carried by urban and rural foxes and emphasises the need for greater genomic surveillance of foxes and other invasive species at the human-wildlife interface. ImportanceUrbanisation of wild environments is increasing as human populations continue to expand. Remnant pockets of natural environments and other green spaces in urban landscapes provide invasive wildlife such as red foxes with refuges within urban areas, where they thrive on the food resources provisioned by humans. Close contact between humans, domestic species and foxes likely increases the risk of novel pathogen emergence. Indeed, the vast majority of emerging infectious diseases in humans originate in wild animals. Here, we explored potential differences in viromes between urban fox invaders and their rural counterparts. Viromes of foxes and their ectoparasites comprise a diversity of viruses including those from the Astroviridae, Picobirnaviridae, Hepeviridae, Caliciviridae and Picornaviridae. Microbial surveillance in foxes and other urban wildlife is vital for monitoring viral emergence and for the prevention of infectious diseases.