Epidemiological Survey of Psittacine Beak and Feather Disease in Japan

Abstract

As for the diagnosis of psittacine beak and feather disease (PBFD), it has been made clear that the genetic variant virus in the budgerigar cannot be detected when using the traditional PCR, and the utility of a PCR method developed by Ogawa et al. that is able to detect genetic variant virus widely was confirmed. One thousand and seventy psittacine birds presented to 58 animal hospitals and kept in 12 pet shops were epidemiologically examined for PBFD using the new PCR method. The positive rate of 300 birds from pet shops was 16.7% while that of 770 birds from general families was 19.2%, and overall 18.5%. The PBFD virus is widespread throughout Japan, and it was clarified that the positive rate of PBFD depended on the bird species. Species with high positive rates were budgerigars (40.1%), cockatoos (24.2%) and African grey parrot (21.2%). Differences in the appearance of clinical signs were evident among species.