title: Extensive recombination detected among beak and feather disease virus isolates from breeding facilities in Poland.
abstract: Beak and feather disease virus (BFDV) causes the highly contagious, in some cases fatal, psittacine beak and feather disease in parrots. The European continent has no native parrots, yet in the past has been one of the world's biggest importers of wild-caught exotic parrot species. Following the banning of this practice in 2007, the demand for exotic pet parrots has largely been met by established European breeding facilities, which can also supply buyers outside Europe. However, the years of unregulated importation have provided numerous opportunities for BFDV to enter Europe, meaning the likelihood of birds within captive breeding facilities being BFDV positive is high. This study examined the BFDV status of such facilities in Poland, a country previously shown to have BFDV among captive birds. A total of 209 birds from over 50 captive breeding facilities across Poland were tested, and 43 birds from 18 different facilities tested positive for BFDV. The full BFDV genomes from these 43 positive birds were determined, and phylogenetic analysis revealed that these samples harboured a relatively high degree of diversity and that they were highly recombinant. It is evident that there have been multiple introductions of BFDV into Poland over a long period of time, and the close association of different species of birds in the captive environment has probably facilitated the evolution of new BFDV strains through recombination.
authors: School of Biological Sciences, University of Canterbury, Private Bag 4800, Christchurch, 8140, New Zealand.
authors: Laurel
authors: L
authors: Julian
authors: Department of Epizootiology with Clinic of Birds and Exotic Animals, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Wrocław University of Environmental and Life Sciences, 50-360 Wrocław, Poland.
authors: Tomasz
authors: T
authors: Piasecki
authors: Department of Epizootiology with Clinic of Birds and Exotic Animals, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Wrocław University of Environmental and Life Sciences, 50-360 Wrocław, Poland.
authors: Klaudia
authors: K
authors: Chrząstek
authors: School of Biological Sciences, University of Canterbury, Private Bag 4800, Christchurch, 8140, New Zealand.
authors: Matthew
authors: M
authors: Walters
authors: Institute of Infectious Diseases and Molecular Medicine, Computational Biology Group, University of Cape Town, South Africa.
authors: Brejnev
authors: B
authors: Muhire
authors: South African National Bioinformatics Institute, University of the Western Cape, Cape Town, South Africa.
authors: Gordon W
authors: GW
authors: Harkins
authors: Institute of Infectious Diseases and Molecular Medicine, Computational Biology Group, University of Cape Town, South Africa.
authors: Darren P
authors: DP
authors: Martin
authors: Electron Microscope Unit, University of Cape Town, Rondebosch, Cape Town, 7701, South Africa.|Biomolecular Interaction Centre, University of Canterbury, Private Bag 4800, Christchurch, 8140, New Zealand.|School of Biological Sciences, University of Canterbury, Private Bag 4800, Christchurch, 8140, New Zealand.
authors: Arvind
authors: A
authors: Varsani
mesh_terms: D000822:Animal Husbandry; D000818:Animals; D001502:Beak / Q000821:virology; D001715:Bird Diseases / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000821:virology*; D001947:Breeding; D018173:Circoviridae Infections / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000662:veterinary* / Q000821:virology; D017925:Circovirus / Q000145:classification / Q000235:genetics* / Q000302:isolation & purification; D004279:DNA, Viral / Q000235:genetics; D005060:Europe / Q000453:epidemiology; D005241:Feathers / Q000821:virology; D005260:Female; D014644:Genetic Variation; D016679:Genome, Viral / Q000235:genetics*; D008297:Male; D010802:Phylogeny; D011044:Poland / Q000453:epidemiology; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction / Q000662:veterinary; D011563:Psittaciformes / Q000821:virology*; D011995:Recombination, Genetic; D017422:Sequence Analysis, DNA
chemical_list: D004279:DNA, Viral