Serological Surveillance and Risk Factor Analysis for Parrot Bornavirus in Taiwan

Abstract

Parrots are traded globally and pose a substantial risk for disease transmission involving parrot-specific pathogens. Parrot bornavirus (PaBV) belongs to the Bornaviridae family and encompasses two clades: alphapsittaciforme (PaBV-1 to -4, PaBV-7, and -8) and betapsittaciforme (PaBV-5 and PaBV-6). These clades cause proventricular dilatation disease, a chronic disease affecting all parrot species. PaBV infections can persist for varying durations in parrots, but the transmission routes are still not well understood. Therefore, surveillance of PaBV-infected parrots is necessary for disease control and improving psittacine aviculture. This study used isolated PaBV-4 NTUCL7 and PaBV-5 NTUCL54 strains to establish and validate two serological diagnostic methods: immunoblotting (IB) and immunocytochemical staining (ICC). To determine the prevalence of PaBV in parrots in Taiwan, 370 clinical serum samples were collected from 13 collaborative veterinary hospitals during a 1-year surveillance period. Serological surveillance revealed a seropositivity rate of 25.68%. Among the seropositive samples, 91.58% were infected with alphapsittaciforme PaBV, demonstrating the predominance of this viral clade in parrots. An analysis of risk factors also demonstrated an association between seropositivity and parrot genera, age, and clinical signs. Cohen’s kappa coefficient analysis showed a high degree of similarity (kappa value = 0.975) between the IB and ICC results, which shows that these serological diagnostic measures are robust. This study established two reliable serological diagnostic measures that are instrumental in serological surveillance, particularly in one of the major parrot-exporting regions. The surveillance results increase the understanding of PaBV infection and associated risk factors and allow methods to be devised for the conservation and protection of parrot populations.