Avian pox in birds from Trinidad.

Abstract

Over a 7-year period in Trinidad, 9,514 birds were examined for avian pox and four species were found infected: the golden-headed manakin, Pipra erythrocephala (7% infected), the white-bearded manakin, Manacus manacus (5%), the violaceous euphonia Euphonia violacea (1%), and the bare-eyed thrush, Turdus nudigenis (less than 1%). The elaborate courtship displays of manakins may have a bearing on a "common source" type of infection. The apparently abrupt appearance of the disease at three localities in Trinidad in 1964 perhaps indicates introduction of the virus by migratory birds.