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

To identify a possible viral cause of PDD, we applied the Virus chip, a DNA microarray containing 70 mer oligonucleotide probes representing all known viral sequences conserved at multiple nodes of the viral taxonomic tree [17, 18] to identify viral signatures unique to histologically confirmed cases of PDD. At the outset of this study, specimens from two independently collected PDD case/ control series were available for this investigation ( Figure 1 , Materials and Methods). The first series (n = 8), from The proventriculus (PV) is markedly distended and extends laterally well beyond the left lobe of L. The heart (H) is marked for orientation. B. Contrast fluoroscopy view of control (left panel) African gray parrot (Psittacus erithacus) 1.5 hours after administration of barium sulfate. The kidney (K) is marked for orientation. The outline of both the PV and V is clearly visible, with normal size and shape. Within the intestinal loops (IL), wider and thinner sections represent active peristalsis. Right panel, representative PDD case, Eclectus parrot (Eclectus roratus) 18 hours after administration of barium. The PV is markedly distended and contains most of the contrast material, with less in the V and within the IL. A large filling defect (*) representing impacted food material. The kidney (K) is shown for orientation. These findings are typical for PDD; however PDD was not confirmed by histology in this case. C. Proventriculus histopathology. Hematoxylin and eosin staining of proventriculus histological sections from a blue and yellow macaw (Ara ararauna) with PDD. Proventricular gland (G) is shown for orientation. Left panel, normal appearing myenteric ganglion detected within the proventriculus of this case (arrow); right panel, marked lymphoplasmacytic infiltration present within a myenteric ganglion (arrows). Right panel inset, higher magnification. D. CNS histopathology. Hematoxylin and eosin staining of a cerebral section from a control (left panel) African gray parrot (Psittacus erithacus) that died of other causes. Right panel, African gray parrot (Psittacus erithacus) with PDD. Perivascular cuffing is evident around blood vessels (arrows). Inset, higher magnification.