detection of CPnv, smears of proventriculus from four birds were spotted onto FTa Cards (Whatman) and shipped to the Clinical virology Laboratory, north Carolina state University, Usa. The rT-PCr assays were positive for three of four samples, confirming the molecular detection of CPnv. The sequence of one PCr product showed 99 per cent nucleotide identity with the reference CPnv sequence (genBank accession number hM038436). as far as we are aware, this is the first documented case of CPnvassociated proventriculitis outside the Usa. nevertheless, it is unlikely that this condition has never occurred before, in France or other european countries, and a thorough analysis of archival reports and archived tissues will likely show that proventriculitis caused by CPnv may be anything but exceptional in the field. Poultry veterinarians and laboratory staff should therefore play a key role in determining the prevalence and the pathological significance of CPnv in broiler chickens, on a global scale.