Survey of captive parrot populations around Port Phillip Bay, Victoria, Australia, for psittacine beak and feather disease virus, avian polyomavirus and psittacine adenovirus

Abstract

This is the first report of the prevalence of BFDV, APV and PsAdV in Victoria and provides a foundation for future studies examining the influence of these viruses on the health of aviary birds in Victoria.

A high prevalence of beak and feather disease virus in non-psittacine Australian birds

“…Transmission occurs by direct contact, ingestion, inhalation of contaminated aerosols or via infected fomites [1,13]. Psittacine birds commonly live in flocks and nest in tree hollows, which favour transmission of the virus within a population [1].…”

“…Extracted DNA was tested for the presence of BFDV by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) as described previously [13]. Oligonucleotide primers specifically targeting the capsid protein encoding region (ORF C1) of the BFDV genome (forward, BFDV-F, 5¢-GGGTCCTCCTTGTAGTGGGATC-3¢, and reverse, BFDV-R, 5¢-CAGACGCCGTTTCACAACCAA TAG-3¢) were used for PCR amplification of an approximately 495 bp fragment [13].…”

“…Oligonucleotide primers specifically targeting the capsid protein encoding region (ORF C1) of the BFDV genome (forward, BFDV-F, 5¢-GGGTCCTCCTTGTAGTGGGATC-3¢, and reverse, BFDV-R, 5¢-CAGACGCCGTTTCACAACCAA TAG-3¢) were used for PCR amplification of an approximately 495 bp fragment [13]. Diethyl pyrocarbonate (DEPC)-treated water was used as a template in negative control reactions.…”

“…Infection with BFDV can cause severe feather and beak deformities and is potentially fatal, being an important cause of morbidity and mortality in wild and captive psittacine birds in Australia and in other countries [1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9]. BFDV is a small, non-enveloped virus with an icosahedral capsid that belongs to the genus Circovirus within the family Circoviridae [1,[10][11][12][13][14][15]. Circoviruses are the smallest and simplest autonomously replicating pathogens known to infect vertebrates [1,6,11,12].…”

Beak and feather disease virus carriage by Knemidocoptes pilae in a sulphur‐crested cockatoo (Cacatua galerita)

“…Circoviruses can cause immunosuppression in affected avian hosts and, as this case indicates, BFDV may act as a keystone pathogen, 27 providing opportunities for secondary pathogens to cause disease in individual birds and/or become established in ecological niches. BFDV is the dominant pathogen in captive 28 and wild psittacine birds throughout Australia, 29 with evidence that it may have contributed to Psittaciforme evolution over aeons. 6 Mange and ectoparasitic infestations are relatively uncommon in companion bird medicine, but when they do occur effective acaricidal treatments exist to limit and cure their clinical effects.…”