Proventricular dilatation disease in cockatiels (Nymphicus hollandicus) after infection with a genotype 2 avian bornavirus.

An isolate of genotype 2 avian bornavirus (ABV) was recovered from a cockatiel (Nymphicus hollandicus) that was euthanatized for an unrelated lesion and showing no clinical evidence of proventricular dilatation disease (PDD). On histopathologic examination, mild inflammatory lesions were present in the heart and brain, but gastrointestinal lesions characteristic of classic PDD were not observed. To investigate if this ABV2 isolate had reduced virulence, the virus was propagated in duck embryo fibroblasts and inoculated into 2 adult cockatiels by the oral and intramuscular routes. One bird developed clinical signs on day 33 and was euthanatized on day 36. The second challenged bird developed clinical signs on day 41 and was euthanatized on day 45. At necropsy, the proventriculus of both birds was slightly enlarged. Histopathologic examination showed lesions typical of PDD in the brain, spinal cord, heart, adrenal gland, and intestine. A control, uninoculated cockatiel was apparently healthy when euthanatized on day 50. These results show that ABV2 is now the second ABV genotype to be formally shown to cause PDD.