2008 Articles

Novel Borna virus in psittacine birds with proventricular dilatation disease

Honkavuori, Kirsi S.; Shivaprasad, H. L.; Williams, Brent L.; Quan, Phuong-Lan; Hornig, Mady; Street, Craig; Palacios, Gustavo F.; Hutchison, Stephen K.; Franca, Monique; Briese, Thomas; Lipkin, W. Ian; Egholm, Michael

Pyrosequencing of cDNA from brains of parrots with proventricular dilatation disease (PDD), an unexplained fatal inflammatory central, autonomic, and peripheral nervous system disease, showed 2 strains of a novel Borna virus. Real-time PCR confirmed virus presence in brain, proventriculus, and adrenal gland of 3 birds with PDD but not in 4 unaffected birds.