Investigation of Avian polyomavirus and Psittacine beak and Feather disease virus in parrots in Taiwan

Abstract

This study aimed to understand the related statistics of APV and PBFDV in parrots, such as the positive percentage and the distributions of various ages, seasons, breeds and areas, in order to obtain more information on the health care of captive parrots in Taiwan today. Blood samples were collected from parrots that were household pets and from commercial aviaries in the northern (e.g. Taipei), central (e.g. Taichung) and southern (e.g. Kaohsiung) Taiwan regions randomly. Collection targets were mainly small and medium species such as Psittacula krameri and others such as Psittacus erithacus. Sixty samples were collected every month and a total of 720 samples in a year. DNA was extracted and analyzed by polymerase chain reaction (PCR), sequencing and statistical analysis. The results showed that 28.3% (204/720) were PBFDV positive, 8.6% (62/720) were APV positive in this study and they were different from the two previous studies of Taiwan and studies of other countries such as the USA and Italy; however, APV/PBFDV coinfection (12%) was similar to the two previous studies of Taiwan (10.3% and 11.04%). The main species and age most susceptible were Psittacula krameri (14.1%, 48.7%), Lorikeets (9.8%, 19.5%), Aratinga solstitialis (7.5%, 28%), Eclectus roratus (6.3%, 22.9%) and chicks that were under six-months-old (3.6%, 17.8%). APV and PBFDV are easily spread during the breeding season due to frequent contact which makes the proportion of positives higher from commercial aviaries (8.7%, 29.7%) than that from household pets (8.3%, 21.7%), mainly in spring (13.3%, 44.4%) and fall (13.9%, 38.9%).