Identification and phylogenetic analysis of clade C
Avipoxvirus in a fowlpox outbreak in exotic psittacines in southern Brazil.
Multiple extinctions of birds in Hawaii are predicted as the mosquito-borne
avipoxvirus spreads into mountain forests where it was once too cold for mosquitoes to live.
Phylogenetic analyses of the
Avipoxvirus genus are usually conducted with the segments of the genes encoding the 4b core-like protein (P4b) and the DNA polymerase, which are both highly conserved among poxviruses (2,3).
Fowl pox virus is a member of the genus
Avipoxvirus of family Poxviridae and subfamily chordopoxviridae.
The eight Chordopoxvirinae genera include Orthopoxvirus, Parapoxvirus, Yatapoxvirus, Molluscipoxvirus,
Avipoxvirus, Capripoxvirus, Leporipoxvirus, and Suipoxvirus.
Histopathology of tissue samples from 5 infected nestlings revealed inclusion bodies in all samples, consistent with
avipoxvirus infection.
Avian pox is caused by
avipoxvirus. Infections occur worldwide in domestic and wild avian species (1), are suggested to be host family- or order-specific, and are modulated by habitat and ecologic niche (2).
Virology, bacteriology and molecular tests for avian influenza, avian paramyxovirus-1,
avipoxvirus, Chlamydia psittaci, Plasmodium species, Babesia species, Leucocytozoon species, and Toxoplasma gondii were negative.
During investigation of the illness, we isolated a novel duck-pathogenic
avipoxvirus (APV) from skin nodules of the affected ducks.
Avipoxvirus DNA and an unidentified virus-like agent were detected in some early oral lesions but could not be confirmed in subsequent testing.
Presence of
avipoxvirus DNA in avian dermal squamous cell carcinoma.
Avipoxvirus was isolated from the lesion and a fragment of the P4b-encoding gene was amplified by polymerase chain reaction.