Dennis LaPointe
C. T. Atkinson
Christopher Czerwonka
Rajesh Shrestha
Susan I. Jarvi
Margaret E.M. Farias
2010
<h3>Background</h3>
<p><i>Avipoxvirus</i> sp. is a significant threat to endemic bird populations on several groups of islands worldwide, including Hawaìi, the Galapagos Islands, and the Canary Islands. Accurate identification and genotyping of <i>Avipoxvirus</i> is critical to the study of this disease and how it interacts with other pathogens, but currently available methods rely on invasive sampling of pox-like lesions and may be especially harmful in smaller birds.</p>
<h3>Methodology/Principal Findings</h3>
<p>Here, we present a nested TaqMan Real-Time PCR for the detection of the <i>Avipoxvirus</i> 4b core protein gene in archived blood samples from Hawaiian birds. The method was successful in amplifying <i>Avipoxvirus</i> DNA from packed blood cells of one of seven Hawaiian honeycreepers with confirmed <i>Avipoxvirus</i> infections and 13 of 28 Hawaìi `amakihi (<i>Hemignathus virens</i>) with suspected <i>Avipoxvirus</i> infections based on the presence of pox-like lesions. Mixed genotype infections have not previously been documented in Hawaìi but were observed in two individuals in this study.</p>
<h3>Conclusions/Significance</h3>
<p>We anticipate that this method will be applicable to other closely related strains of <i>Avipoxvirus </i>and will become an important and useful tool in global studies of the epidemiology of <i>Avipoxvirus</i>.</p>
application/pdf
10.1371/journal.pone.0010745
en
PLoS
Taqman Real-Time PCR Detects <i>Avipoxvirus</i> DNA in Blood of Hawaìi `Amakihi (<i>Hemignathus virens</i>)
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