Presence of avian pneumovirus type A in continental Europe during the 1980s.

Three isolates of avian pneumovirus (APV) were isolated in Germany during 1987 and 1988 from turkeys with clinical signs of turkey rhinotracheitis and one was isolated during 1990 from a broiler breeder flock with typical signs of swollen head syndrome. The isolates were typed using type-specific reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reactions. The three isolates from turkeys were identified as type A, while the isolate from the broiler breeders was type B. During the late 1980s no APV live-virus vaccine was used in poultry flocks in Germany, which is indicative of the presence of both types at that time. Previous isolates detected from elsewhere in Europe during the 1980s had been only of type B.