Incidence and diversity of circoviruses, polyomaviruses, and adenoviruses in exotic free-roaming rosy-faced lovebirds from Phoenix, Arizona, USA.

Abstract

Free-roaming rosy-faced lovebirds (Agapornis roseicollis) were first documented in the greater Phoenix area (Arizona, USA) in the mid-1980s and have since established small populations. In blood and cloacal swab samples from 69 lovebirds at four locations, we identified the presence of beak and feather disease virus (BFDV), aves polyomavirus (APyV), and psittacine adenovirus 5 (PsAdV-5). Additionally, we identified a novel aviadenovirus, hereby referred to as psittacine adenovirus 12 (PsAdV-12). PsAdV-12 is most closely related to members of the species Aviadenovirus senegalense and Aviadenovirus rubri, sharing ∼64 % genome-wide pairwise identity. Incidence of each virus across all lovebirds varied, with BFDV being the highest at 68.1 % overall, whereas a much lower infection rate was observed for APyV (8.6 %), PsAdV-5 (5.7 %), and PsAdV-12 (2.8 %). Our analysis supports an introduction of BFDV-infected lovebirds into the greater Phoenix area in the 1980s followed by radiation to three circulating distinct lineages; APyVs showed very little diversification.