Background: Circoviruses are small, non-enveloped, single stranded DNA viruses. There is scarce information about these agents in non-psittacine birds. Aims: It is attempted to detect and characterize circoviruses in non-psittacine birds. Methods: Forty-five samples were collected from different non-psittacine species belonging to seven avian o...

Beak and feather disease is caused by Circovirus, which affects actively growing beak and feather cells of avian species. The disease affects mainly young birds while older birds may overcome the disease with few lasting effects. Due to lack of treatment, the only way to control the disease is through hygiene and early diagnosis. As a diagnostic tool, we have established a Taqman probe based re...

Circoviruses are circular single-stranded DNA (ssDNA) viruses that infect a variety of animals, both domestic and wild. Circovirus infection in birds is associated with immunosuppression and this in turn predisposes the infected animals to secondary infections that can lead to mortality. Farmed geese (Anser anser) in many parts of the world are infected with circoviruses. The majority of the cu...

There are over 2,100 pigeon fanciers in N. Ireland with approximately 150,000 racing pigeons. Historically, the sport has had little veterinary intervention. Fanciers rely heavily on various concoctions of routine treatments and antibiotics obtained principally by mail order from overseas. In recent years there have been increased losses of young birds, up to 90% in some cases. Traditionally, y...

Circoviridae family contains two genuses. Chicken anaemia virus (CAV) is the only member of the genus Gyrovirus, while the genus Circovirus currently comprises porcine circoviruses type 1 and 2 (PCV1, PCV2), psittacine beak and feather disease virus (BFDV), pigeon circovirus (PiCV), canary circovirus (CaCV), goose circovirus (GoCV) and duck circovirus (DuCV) [24]. Members of circoviridae family...

Circoviruses are present worldwide in birds and pigs but their occurrence in fish has not yet been reported. Recently, increased mortality was observed in barbel fry (Barbus barbus) in Hungary. This paper reports the detection of previously unknown circular viral DNA genomes in barbels by the use of a circovirus-specific wide-range nested PCR. The analysis of two complete genomes (Barbel circov...

Of the ≈400 cases of avian influenza (H7N9) diagnosed in China since 2003, the only travel-related cases have been in Hong Kong and Taiwan. Detection of a case in a Chinese tourist in Sabah, Malaysia, highlights the ease with which emerging viral respiratory infections can travel globally.

Closure of live poultry markets was implemented in areas affected by the influenza virus A(H7N9) outbreak in China during winter, 2013-14. Our analysis showed that closing live poultry markets in the most affected cities of Guangdong and Zhejiang provinces was highly effective in reducing the risk for H7N9 infection in humans.