AVIS-IBIS

Birds of Indian Subcontinent

Characterization of a Papovavirus Isolated from Fledgling Budgerigars

Publication Type:Journal Article
Year of Publication:1981
Authors:Bozeman, LH, Davis, RB, Gaudry, D, Lukert, PD, Fletcher, OJ, Dykstra, MJ
Journal:Avian Diseases
Volume:25
Issue:4
Date Published:1981
ISBN Number:00052086
Keywords:Georgia, Guinea, Meleagris, Meleagris gallopavo, Melopsittacus undulatus, Phasianidae
Abstract:A virus suspected of causing high death rates in fledgling budgerigars in Georgia and Texas aviaries was isolated in budgerigar embryo fibroblasts inoculated with tissue homogenates from affected birds. Virus was most easily recovered from tissues containing many intranuclear inclusion bodies. Cytopathic effect on fibroblasts of all four isolates was characterized by a swollen nucleus followed by rounding and detachment of the affected cell from the monolayer. Properties suggesting the B-931 isolate belongs to the Papovaviridae family are (1) presence of DNA; (2) insensitivity to treatment with CHCl3; and (3) presence of cubic viral particles 42 to 49 nm in diameter in the nucleus of infected chicken embryo fibroblasts. The isolate did not hemagglutinate erythrocytes of chickens, turkeys, budgerigars, guinea pigs, or type O humans and was basically stable against heating and freeze-thawing. An examination of fledgling budgerigars from infected aviaries demonstrated that sick birds carried more virus than healthy birds.
URL:http://www.jstor.org/stable/1590072
Short Title:Avian Diseases
Taxonomic name: 
Scratchpads developed and conceived by (alphabetical): Ed Baker, Katherine Bouton Alice Heaton Dimitris Koureas, Laurence Livermore, Dave Roberts, Simon Rycroft, Ben Scott, Vince Smith