New data on the transmission of pigeon circovirus

Abstract

Nineteen racing pigeons aged from one to five years were examined postmortem. pcr tests showed that the spleens of 16 of them were positive for pigeon circovirus, the livers of six were positive, and blood from one of them was positive for the virus. Five of 44 embryos in embryonated eggs collected from three lofts were positive by pcr, but swabs taken from the crops of 64 adult birds which were feeding one- to 10-day-old squabs in these three lofts were negative for the viral dna.

The epidemiology, molecular characterization and clinical pathology of circovirus infections in pigeons – current knowledge

“…The progress in molecular biology techniques facilitated rapid and accurate detection of infectious diseases. As a result, cases of PiCV infections in pigeons were subsequently reported in various countries and regions, including Northern Ireland (Smyth & Caroll 1995;Todd et al 2001), Germany (Mankertz et al 2000;Raue et al 2005), Italy (Coletti et al 2000;Franciosini et al 2005), France (Abadie et al 2001), Czech Republic (Taras et al 2003), Belgium (Duchatel et al 2005, Poland (Wieliczko et al 2005;Stenzel et al 2012Stenzel et al , 2014a, Slovenia (Krapez et al 2012), Hungary (Cs agola et al 2012), United Arab Emirates (Ledwo n et al 2011), Iran (Mahzounieh et al 2014, Taiwan (Liao et al 2015), China (Zhang et al 2011;Phan et al 2013;Zhang et al 2015a), Japan (Yamamoto et al 2015) and the USA (Roy et al 2003) (Figure 1). In most reports, the virus was detected in the pigeon species of Columba livia domestica, but in several cases, PiCV genetic material was also detected in Senegal doves (Streptopelia senegalensis) and collared doves (Streptopelia decaocto) (Kub ı cek & Taras 2005;Todd et al 2008).…”

“…The PiCV is transmitted mainly horizontally through ingestion or inhalation of virus-contaminated fecal material and feather dust (Woods et al 1993;Franciosini et al 2005). The virus can also be transmitted vertically (Duchatel et al 2005, but the role of this route has not yet been elucidated. Transport of large groups of domestic pigeons for racing, display of birds from various geographic regions during shows and exhibitions, and the inclusion of such birds in parent stock could contribute to the spread of pathogens between pigeons and could also lead to the production of new recombinant strains of PiCV as well as the psittacine circovirus (Julian et al 2013).…”

Complete genome sequence of pigeon circovirus detected in racing pigeons in western Japan

“…Circovirus infection in pigeons was first documented in North America in 1993 [1], and subsequently reported in many countries throughout the world [2][3][4][5][6][7]. The most commonly reported clinical signs of circovirus infection in pigeon lofts are poor performance, diarrhea, and ill thrift [8].…”

Occurrence and genetic diversity of pigeon circovirus strains in Poland

“…Pigeon circovirus infections are very common in the domestic pigeon population, and their clinical form occurring in young birds is called Young Pigeon Disease Syndrome (YPDS) (Smyth and Carroll, 1995;Paré et al, 1999;Raue et al, 2005;Duchatel et al, 2005Duchatel et al, , 2006Zhang et al, 2011;Cságola et al, 2012;Stenzel et al, 2012). Circoviral infection in pigeons can be manifested in a wide range of signs including weight loss, decrease in racing performance, respiratory problems, diarrhoea, and occasional problems with plumage development (Raue et al, 2005).…”