The
Picornavirus
Pages
|
Child level |
|
Same level |
       |
|
Genera |
                                         |
| Cockatoo entero-like virus (Wylie and Pass, 1990;
McOrist et al., 1991);
picornavirus or astrovirus? Abstract from Wylie and Pass (1989)... An enteric infection in cockatoos associated with a 30 nm diameter enterovirus-like agent seen in faeces and intestinal epithelial cells is described. The disease is characterised by intractable, profuse, mucoid diarrhoea, weight loss, dehydration and death. Lesions in the intestine consist of villous atrophy, villous fusion, enterocyte hyperplasia and, in some cases, chronic inflammation. Affected birds so far examined have concurrent psittacine beak and feather disease. Abstract from McOrist et al. (1991)... Sulphur-crested cockatoos (Cacatua galerita) and galahs (C. roseicapilla) captured in Victoria, Australia at 7 to 9 weeks of age were found to suffer a profuse diarrhoea and wasting syndrome ending in death. Necropsy revealed dilatation of the duodenum with mucosal thickening. Histologically, the duodenal mucosa had short, fused villi, with marked proliferation of crypt enterocytes compared with normal birds. Electron microscopic examination of faeces and intestinal sections revealed the presence of round, unenveloped viral particles approximately 30 nm diameter, with no surface structures and a smooth, entire edge. Although no virus was cultured, it is likely that an enterovirus infection was associated with a significant enteritis in the cockatoos. References McOrist, S., Madill, D., Adamson, M. and Philip, C. (1991). Viral enteritis in cockatoos (Cacatua spp.). Avian Pathology 20: 531-539. Wylie, S.L. and Pass, D.A. (1989). Investigations of an enteric infection of cockatoos caused by an enterovirus-like agent. Australian Veterinary Journal 66: 321-324.
|