title: Occurrence of avian bornavirus infection in captive psittacines in various European countries and its association with proventricular dilatation disease.
abstract: A total of 1442 live birds and 73 dead birds out of 215 bird collections in Spain, Germany, Italy, the UK and Denmark were tested for avian bornavirus (ABV) infection by four different methods. The majority of the birds were psittacines belonging to 54 different genera of the order Psittaciformes. In total, 22.8% of the birds reacted positive for ABV in at least one of the tests. Combined testing of swabs from the crop and cloaca, and serum for the diagnosis of ABV infection in live birds revealed that virus shedding and antibody production coincided in only one-fifth of the positive birds so that the examination of these three samples is recommended for reliable ABV diagnosis. By statistical analysis of this large number of samples, the ABV infection proved to be highly significant (P <0.001) associated with histopathologically confirmed proventricular dilatation disease (PDD) in dead birds as well as with clinically assumed PDD in live birds. However, ABV infection was also detected in psittacines without pathological lesions or clinical signs of PDD. Twelve non-psittacine birds belonging to the genera Aburria, Ciconia, Geopelia, Leucopsar and Pavo were tested negative for ABV infection. Within the order of Psittaciformes, birds belonging to 33 different genera reacted positive for ABV. In 16 of these psittacine genera, the ABV infection was demonstrated for the first time. The present study emphasizes the widespread occurrence of clinically variable ABV infections in Europe by analysing a large number of specimens from a broad range of bird species in several assays.
authors.affiliation: Clinic for Birds, Reptiles, Amphibians and Fish, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Justus Liebig University Giessen, Frankfurter Strasse 91-93, D-35392, Giessen, Germany. ursula.heffels-redmann@vetmed.uni-giessen.de
authors.forename: Ursula
authors.initials: U
authors.lastname: Heffels-Redmann
authors.forename: Dirk
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Enderlein
authors.forename: Sibylle
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Herzog
authors.forename: Christiane
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Herden
authors.forename: Anne
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Piepenbring
authors.forename: Daniel
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Neumann
authors.forename: Hermann
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Müller
authors.forename: Sara
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Capelli
authors.forename: Heiner
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Müller
authors.forename: Kirstin
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Oberhäuser
authors.forename: Helga
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Gerlach
authors.forename: Erhard F
authors.initials: EF
authors.lastname: Kaleta
authors.forename: Michael
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Lierz
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001715:Bird Diseases / Q000473:pathology* / Q000821:virology; D028981:Bornaviridae / Q000235:genetics / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D005060:Europe; D018701:Mononegavirales Infections / Q000473:pathology / Q000662:veterinary* / Q000821:virology; D011531:Proventriculus / Q000473:pathology* / Q000821:virology; D011563:Psittaciformes / Q000821:virology*; D012367:RNA, Viral / Q000235:genetics; D013272:Stomach Diseases / Q000473:pathology / Q000662:veterinary*; D017201:Virus Shedding
chemical_list: D012367:RNA, Viral