Herpesvirus hepatitis in two eagles in Spain

Two cases of naturally occurring fatal disease in eagles (a booted eagle and a buzzard) are reported. Both eagles showed anorexia, weight loss, weakness, and inability to fly. Microscopically, stained liver sections showed wide non-zonal coagulation necrosis and eosinophilic intranuclear inclusion bodies in hepatocytes adjacent to the edges of necrotic regions. Ultrastructural studies of hepatocytes revealed multiple enveloped viral particles in the cytoplasm, focal paracrystalline arrays of virions within the nuclei, and some budding particles bound by a membrane, located in an evagination of nuclear membrane. The size and morphology of all of these particles were consistent with herpesvirus. To our knowledge, this is the first report of naturally occurring field cases of herpesvirus hepatitis in eagles (Accipitridae).