Virus infection in feral birds, a general review
1997
Vindevogel, H. | Duchatel, J.P. (Universite de Liege, Sart Tilman (Belgium). Faculte de medecine veterinaire)
Most viruses which can infect wild birds have a tropism for the respiratory tract. Therefore, respiratory diseases are a major, if not the most important, problem in feral bird pathology, due to the morphology of birds' respiratory systems and to the large variety of viral and bacterial agents involved. After a description of the morphology of the avian respiratory system that is markedly different from other vertebrates, the main viral infections in feral birds are reviewed in this report. 1. Herpesvirus infections have been described in several species of domestic and wild birds. Some of the isolated viruses are antigenically related. Pigeon herpesvirus infection is a perfect model of avian herpesvirus infections and is described as a model. 2. Susceptibility of wild birds to Newcastle disease virus (NDV) is discussed. Newcastle disease is a polymorphic disease, which may appear as a non-apparent infection or as a severe disease associated with respiratory, digestive and/or nervous clinical signs. An enzootic condition in numerous countries, Newcastle disease is also responsible for deadly epizootics or even panzootics. Current literature indicates that natural or experimental NDV infection has been demonstrated in at least 236 species of birds belonging to 27 out of 50 orders. Clinical signs and gross lesions in Newcastle disease are described. 3. Diseases associated with avian poxvirus infections in feral birds are reviewed (modes of transmission, clinical signs, susceptibility of wild birds)
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