First detection of black queen cell virus, Varroa destructor macula-like virus, Apis mellifera filamentous virus and Nosema ceranae in Syrian honey bees Apis mellifera syriaca

The occurrence of honey bee viruses and Nosema spp. was investigated by PCR in five honey bee colonies suffering from depopulation, vestigial wings and dark colouring in Rural Damascus city (Syria). Deformed wing virus (DWV), detected in 95.8% of the samples, was the most prevalent virus, followed by Varroa destructor macula-like virus (VdMLV), black queen cell virus (BQCV) and Apis mellifera filamentous virus (AmFV) (70.8%, 29.2%, 16.7% of infection, respectively). Nosema ceranae was detected in two apiaries representing 8.3% of infection in the total tested samples. Simultaneous infections with two, three and four viruses together in the same sample were found. Phylogenetic analyses of the detected pathogens confirmed the high percentages of sequence identity at the nucleotide level with other isolates distributed worldwide. The present study reports the first detection and molecular characterization of VdMLV, BQCV, AmFV and N. ceranae in A. mellifera colonies with suspected infections in Syria.