Isolation and characterization of avipoxviruses from wild birds in Western Australia

Avipoxviruses were isolated from wart-like lesions in an Australian magpie (Gymnorhina tibicen) and a silvereye (Zosterops lateralis), and the poxvirus aetiology of wart-like lesions in a magpie-lark (Grallina cyanoleuca) was confirmed. The three viruses produced typical pock lesions on the chorioallantoic membrane of embryonated eggs and were able to replicate in trypsin-dispersed chick embryo fibroblast cultures but not confluent monolayer cultures. Pock neutralization and immunodiffusion studies showed that the three wild bird isolates were distinct from fowlpox, although antigenically closer to fowlpox than pigeonpox. The magpie and silvereye isolates were more closely related to each other than to the magpie-lark isolate.