Survey of Beak and Feather Disease Virus (BFDV) in Guatemalan Neotropical Psittacine Birds.

Abstract

Beak and feather disease virus (BFDV), a circovirus, is the etiologic agent of psittacine beak and feather disease (PBFD), a progressive and often fatal disease in Psittaciformes. Even though neotropical psittacine species are more resistant to clinical infection than Old World species, BFDV is recognized as a threat to immunologically naïve wild psittacine flocks and its epidemiologic control is paramount for conservation efforts in Neotropical species. Samples were collected from multiple psittacine species, includingspecies,species, and the white-crowned parrot () from the only rescue center in Guatemala with formal psittacine rehabilitation and reintroduction programs. A total of 117 birds, with 101 adults and 16 juveniles of unknown sex, were tested for BFDV by means of a real-time polymerase chain reaction (PCR) assay. The BFDV prevalence found in this study was 0%, (95% confidence interval, 0%-6.0%). Seven 2-8-year-old scarlet macaws () with positive results from previous surveys by conventional PCR yielded negative results in this study, suggesting complete infection resolution.