More great PDD News

[jmfleish]

I just received this from my Eclectus Breeder...received from Katy McElroy of Hornbeam Aviary:

Hello everyone,


A few months ago I posted the initial results of PDD research funded by Lahser Interspecies Research Foundation and conducted by Joe DeRisi, Ph.D and his team at Howard Hughes Institute at the University of California at San Francisco. This lab’s micro array is currently the most sophisticated and comprehensive viral identification system in the world.


Susan Clubb took an early interest in our work and has been able provide the lab with tissue samples from infected birds. Bobbi Robinson’s Living With PDD group was also a valuable source of specimen samples. About a year into the research a unique virus was identified in the affected specimens. Not only is this new virus an exciting discovery for the scientific world, it may well prove to be the cause of PDD.


I didn’t have permission to disclose the type of virus at the time, but I’m excited and happy to say that the manuscript has been accepted for publication in the highly respected Virology Journal and will be published in the next few days. The title is “Recovery of divergent avian bornaviruses from cases of proventricular dilatation disease: a promising lead in the search for an etiologic agent”. An AP release will be out shortly and Susan Clubb will present the findings at the AAV meeting.


The family of Bornaviruses has been around for a long time but Bornavirus A is new and is turning up in confirmed PDD samples, not in the controls. More samples need to be studied, but because the symptoms of Bornavirus in other animal species closely resembles PDD in Psittacines, the evidence points strongly to Bornavirus A as the cause of PDD.


Published Bornavirus studies are readily available on the internet and I urge you all to have a look.


More PDD samples have to be studied before we can say without a doubt that Bornavirus A causes PDD. We’re not asking for monetary contributions, only blood, stool and tissue samples from birds highly suspected of having PDD. If you are willing to help, we will send collection kits with RNA safe fixative at no charge to your veterinarian. Please note that samples MUST be preserved in our collection kits, so they should be in your vet’s possession well before your scheduled visit. You can contact me at katy@hornbeamaviary.com or phone me at 419-271-4140 with your vet’s address. I am not a scientist but I will be happy to forward any questions you have to the proper source.


As a cockatoo breeder for almost 30 years, I have lived with the worry that every new breeder bird that I acquire could have PDD. A fecal test for Bornavirus A is already available, and I am thrilled that this fear may soon be behind us.


Best regards,
Katy McElroy
Lahser Interspecies Research Foundation

[jenseits]

Excellent. Can't wait til we learn even more!

[Freedomoflight]

What a wonderful revelation. Hopefully this will lead to a brighter future for PDD birds.