Experimental Inoculation of BFDV-Positive Budgerigars (Melopsittacus undulatus) with TwoMycobacterium aviumsubsp.aviumIsolates

Abstract

Beak and feather disease virus- (BFDV-) positive (naturally infected) but clinically healthy budgerigars (Melopsittacus undulatus) were inoculated with two isolates ofMycobacterium aviumsubsp.aviumisolated from naturally infected golden pheasant (Chrysolophus pictus) and peafowl (Pavo cristatus). During a period of more than two months after inoculation, samples of cloacal and crop swabs, faeces, and blood were obtained for BFDV andMycobacterium aviumtesting with PCR. Birds were euthanized nine weeks after inoculation. All infected budgerigars developed signs typical of mycobacteriosis, but more advanced clinical and pathological changes were visible in the group infected with the pheasant isolate. Only a few cloacal and crop swab samples were positive forMycobacterium aviumsubsp.aviumdespite advanced pathological changes in the internal organs. In the groups infected with mycobacterium isolates the frequency of BFDV-positive samples was higher than in the control group. In the infected groups the frequency of BFDV was substantially higher in the cloacal swabs of birds inoculated with the pheasant isolate than in the peafowl-isolate-infected group.