Genetic diversity of pigeon circovirus in Hungary

Abstract

Pigeon circoviruses (PiCV) had been identified worldwide and are responsible for immune suppression and a variety of diseases collectively referred to as young pigeon disease syndrome. Samples from racing pigeons were collected throughout Hungary and analyzed for the presence of PiCV by polymerase chain reaction. The capsid protein coding gene was amplified from ten PiCVs of different origins, and compared with known PiCV sequences. The results indicated that PiCV was highly variable, the viruses formed five distinct genetic groups. Differences of the 3' end of the gene suggested the possibility of genetic recombination among these groups.

Occurrence and genetic diversity of pigeon circovirus strains in Poland

“…Pigeon circovirus infections are very common all around the world (Smyth and Carroll, 1995;Paré et al, 1999;Caletti et al, 2000;Raue et al, 2005;Freick et al, 2008;Zhang et al, 2011;Cságola et al, 2012;Stenzel et al, 2012). The results obtained in this study indicate the high prevalence of PiCV infections in Poland.…”

“…By analysing the length of each branch of the phylogenetic trees, it can be stated that either the hypothetical common ancestors of the world's well-known PiCV strains and PiCV isolates from Poland studied in this investigation appeared in the distant past or that the virus mutates rapidly. The phylogenetic tree constructed on the basis of the Cap gene fragment is convergent with data presented by Cságola et al (2012) wherein the authors divided the Hungarian isolates and isolates from all over the world into groups. To facilitate a comparative analysis, the same was performed in the present study by separating five clades of viruses.…”

“…Imported birds with a perfect pedigree are not used for racing but are kept as a reproductive flock. Reproductive flocks are often created with birds originating from different pigeon breeding facilities, which facilitates not only the transmission of the virus to uninfected birds in the flock but also the formation of recombinants (Cságola et al, 2012). …”

“…Pigeon circovirus infections are very common in the domestic pigeon population, and their clinical form occurring in young birds is called Young Pigeon Disease Syndrome (YPDS) (Smyth and Carroll, 1995;Paré et al, 1999;Raue et al, 2005;Duchatel et al, 2005Duchatel et al, , 2006Zhang et al, 2011;Cságola et al, 2012;Stenzel et al, 2012). Circoviral infection in pigeons can be manifested in a wide range of signs including weight loss, decrease in racing performance, respiratory problems, diarrhoea, and occasional problems with plumage development (Raue et al, 2005).…”

“…A weakened immune response in infected pigeons predisposes the birds to opportunistic infections and superinfections by other viruses such as pigeon herpesvirus (PiHV) and pigeon adenovirus (PiAV) (Raue et al, 2005;Stenzel et al, 2012). Pigeon circovirus has been isolated from both healthy and symptomatic birds of all ages, which form the basis for the hypotheses that additional factors are needed for the development of YPDS, or that there are PiCV strains of different virulence (Schmidt et al, 2008;Zhang et al, 2011;Cságola et al, 2012;Stenzel et al, 2012).…”