Recovery of divergent avian bornaviruses from cases of proventricular dilatation disease: Identification of a candidate etiologic agent

Kistler, Amy L; Gancz, Ady; Clubb, Susan; Skewes-Cox, Peter; Fischer, Kael; Sorber, Katherine; Chiu, Charles Y; Lublin, Avishai; Mechani, Sara; Farnoushi, Yigal; Greninger, Alexander; Wen, Christopher C; Karlene, Scott B; Ganem, Don; DeRisi, Joseph L

PDD is an inflammatory disease of birds, first described in the 1970s as Macaw Wasting Disease during an outbreak among macaws (reviewed in [3] ). PDD primarily affects the autonomic nerves of the upper and middle digestive tract, including the esophagus, crop, proventriculus, ventriculus, and duodenum. Microscopically, the disease is recognized by the presence of lymphoplasmacytic infiltrates within myenteric ganglia and nerves. Similar infiltrates may also be present in the brain, spinal cord, peripheral nerves, conductive tissue of the heart, smooth and cardiac muscle, and adrenal glands. Non-suppurative leiomyositis and/or myocarditis may accompany the neural lesions [6] [7] [8] [9] . Clinically, PDD cases present with GI tract dysfunction (dysphagia, regurgitation, and passage of undigested food in feces), neurologic symptoms (e.g. ataxia, abnormal gait, proprioceptive defects), or both [3] . Although the clinical course of the disease can vary, it is generally fatal in untreated animals [3] .