Isolation and characterization of an adenovirus associated with inclusion body hepatitis in psittacine birds.

An outbreak is reported of inclusion body hepatitis in psittacines from a private aviary, in which several birds aged between 35 and 75 days had died without showing any clinical signs. Histological examination of the livers revealed severe hepatic damage with presence of large basophilic intranuclear inclusion bodies. Avian adenoviruses were isolated from the affected livers. Characterization of the isolates by means of restriction endonuclease analysis showed that they were similar to reference strain SR49 (serotype 3) which is associated with inclusion body hepatitis in chickens. This finding was confirmed by the virus neutralization test.