Emerging rotaviruses ‘major threat’ to domestic pigeon populations
22 August 2018
A new virus has been causing disease outbreaks in domestic pigeons in Europe.
The first outbreaks occurred in the summer of 2017 and have been seen in Germany, Belgium and Denmark. Mortality rate ranged from 20% to 39%.
Professor Dennis Rubbenstroth from the University of Freiburg identified the virus as a Group A rotavirus (RVA). In humans and other mammals, these viruses can cause intestinal disease. In infected pigeons, symptoms include diarrhoea, vomiting, liver damage and sudden death.
Professor Rubbenstroth tested the viruses in each disease outbreak. His research showed that a less lethal variant of RVA has been circulating in European pigeons since year 2000.
The research also found the virus is closely related to another RVA outbreak in Australia. The Australian disease was seen in pigeon lofts in 2016 and caused fatal liver damage. Professor Rubbenstroth suggests that this virus spread to Europe and mixed with the European RVAs to produce this new, deadlier virus.
Professor Rubbenstroth will discuss his findings at the Microbiology Society’s Focused Meeting: Molecular Biology and Pathogenesis of Avian Viruses.
His talk, 'Emergence of a novel clade of group A rotaviruses associated with fatal disease in domestic pigeons in Europe' will take place at 16:25 on 3 September, at St Catherine’s College, University of Oxford.
This article was amended on 19 September.
Image: Chris_Tefme/Thinkstock.
