title: Avian bornaviruses are widely distributed in canary birds (Serinus canaria f. domestica).
abstract: Avian bornavirus (ABV) was identified in 2008 as the causative agent of proventricular dilatation disease (PDD) in psittacine birds. In addition, ABV variants were detected in wild waterfowl and in a canary bird. PDD-like diseases were also reported in various other avian species, but it remains unknown whether ABV is involved. In this study we detected ABV in 12 of 30 tested canary bird flocks (40%), indicating a wide distribution of ABV in captive canary birds in Germany. Sequence analysis identified several distinct ABV genotypes which differ markedly from the genotypes present in psittacine birds. Some canaries naturally infected with ABV exhibited gastrointestinal and neurological symptoms which resembled PDD in psittacines, while others did not show signs of disease. Canaries experimentally inoculated with ABV developed infections of the brain and various other organs. The experimentally infected canaries transmitted the virus to sentinel birds kept in the same aviary, but did not show any clinical signs during a five month observation period. Embryonated eggs originating from ABV-infected hens contained ABV-specific RNA, but virus could not be re-isolated from embryonic tissue. These results indicate that ABV is widely distributed in canary birds and due to its association to clinical signs should be considered as a potential pathogen of this species.
authors: Department of Virology, University of Freiburg, Hermann-Herder-Str. 11, D-79104 Freiburg, Germany. Dennis.Rubbenstroth@uniklinik-freiburg.de
authors: Dennis
authors: D
authors: Rubbenstroth
authors: Monika
authors: M
authors: Rinder
authors: Malte
authors: M
authors: Stein
authors: Dirk
authors: D
authors: Höper
authors: Bernd
authors: B
authors: Kaspers
authors: Katrin
authors: K
authors: Brosinski
authors: Masayuki
authors: M
authors: Horie
authors: Volker
authors: V
authors: Schmidt
authors: Marko
authors: M
authors: Legler
authors: Rüdiger
authors: R
authors: Korbel
authors: Peter
authors: P
authors: Staeheli
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001483:Base Sequence; D001715:Bird Diseases / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000473:pathology / Q000635:transmission / Q000821:virology*; D028981:Bornaviridae / Q000145:classification / Q000235:genetics / Q000302:isolation & purification / Q000502:physiology*; D002171:Canaries; D002460:Cell Line; D002522:Chlorocebus aethiops; D004625:Embryo, Nonmammalian / Q000821:virology; D005814:Genes, Viral; D014644:Genetic Variation; D005838:Genotype; D005858:Germany; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D018701:Mononegavirales Infections / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000473:pathology / Q000635:transmission / Q000662:veterinary* / Q000821:virology; D010802:Phylogeny; D016415:Sequence Alignment; D014709:Vero Cells