Isolation and identification of a fowl adenovirus from wild Black Kites (Milvus migrans).

A fowl adenovirus was isolated from wild Black Kites (Milvus migrans) that died around Kashipur, Uttarakhand, India. This virus isolate produced cytopathic effects in chicken embryo liver (CEL) cells and reacted with fowl adenovirus 4 (FadV-4) antiserum in agar gel immunodiffusion and immunofluorescence tests. The virus isolate was neutralized by FadV-4 antiserum with a neutralization titer of 800. Electron microscopy of infected CEL cells showed the presence of hexagonal virion particles measuring in size about 80-100 nm. An amplicon of 1,223 base pairs was detected using polymerase chain reaction with primers designed to target the hexon gene of FadV-4.