Peer-reviewed veterinary case report
Best samples to detect beak and feather disease virus in budgerigars
By Hess, Michael et al.·Published in Avian pathology : journal of the W.V.P.A·2004·Clinic for Avian·View original on PubMed →
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Original publication title: Comparitive sensitivity of polymerase chain reaction diagnosis of psittacine beak and feather disease on feather samples, cloacal swabs and blood from budgerigars (Melopsittacus undulates, Shaw 18005).
Plain-English summary
A group of budgerigars was studied during an outbreak of psittacine beak and feather disease, which causes feather abnormalities. Researchers found that the virus was most often detected in feather samples, followed by cloacal swabs, and least in blood samples. While the virus was present, it usually didn't stay in the bloodstream for long. This suggests that testing feathers and cloacal swabs is the best way to check for the virus in birds, but finding the virus doesn't always mean the birds will show signs of the disease.
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Abstract
A longitudinal study was performed in order to investigate virus excretion and viraemia during a clinical outbreak of the psittacine beak and feather disease in budgerigars (Melopsittacus undulatus). Viral nucleic acid was detected in feathers, cloacal swabs and blood samples. Overall, beak and feather disease virus (BFDV) DNA was detected most commonly in feather samples, followed by cloacal swabs, and least frequently from blood samples. In most cases the viraemia was short lived and correlated with clinical signs, such as feather abnormalities. Sequence analysis of the polymerase chain reaction fragment amplified from the replication-associated gene (ORF V1) indicated a close relationship with other BFDV isolates. Overall the highest level of nucleotide identity was found with the ORF V1 of another budgerigar isolate. Our results suggest that feather samples and cloacal swabs should be taken for polymerase chain reaction diagnosis to determine the presence of BFDV in an aviary, but that detection in these samples may not correlate well with psittacine beak and feather disease.
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Search related cases →Original publication on PubMed: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/15545027/