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Updated: Jun 10, 2026

Rapid Diagnosis of Avian Influenza Virus in Wild Birds: Use of a Portable rRT-PCR and Freeze-dried Reagents in the Field
Published on: August 2, 2011
The isolation, pathogenesis, diagnosis, transmission, and control of avian bornavirus and proventricular dilatation
Sharman Hoppes1, Patricia L Gray, Susan Payne
1Small Animal Clinical Sciences, Texas A&M University, 4474 TAMU, College Station, TX 77843, USA. shoppes@cvm.tamu.edu
Abstract:
Proventricular dilatation disease (PDD) is a common infectious neurologic disease of birds comprising a dilatation of the proventriculus by ingested food as a result of defects in intestinal motility, which affects more than 50 species of psittacines, and is also known as Macaw wasting disease, neuropathic ganglioneuritis, or lymphoplasmacytic ganglioneuritis. Definitive diagnosis of PDD has been problematic due to the inconsistent distribution of lesions. Since its discovery, avian bornavirus (ABV) has been successfully cultured from the brains of psittacines diagnosed with PDD, providing a source of antigen for serologic assays and nucleic acid for molecular assays. This article provides evidence that ABV is the etiologic agent of PDD. Recent findings on the transmission, epidemiology, pathogenesis, diagnosis, and control of ABV infection and PDD are also reviewed.
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