Premium
ORNITHOSIS IN FERAL PIGEONS
Author(s) -
Cook Ian
Publication year - 1962
Publication title -
australian journal of experimental biology and medical science
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.999
H-Index - 104
eISSN - 1440-1711
pISSN - 0004-945X
DOI - 10.1038/icb.1962.43
Subject(s) - ornithosis , psittacosis , complement fixation test , biology , virology , virus , serology , veterinary medicine , immunology , medicine , antibody
SUMMARY Serological evidence of ornithosis was found in 56 p.c. of 57 feral pigeons ( Columba livia ) trapped at Ipswich, Queensland. Virus strains isolated in mice from four of eleven pools of pigeon organs were identified as members of the psittacosis‐lymphogranuloma group by complement‐fixation tests and are considered to be strains of ornithosis virus. Inclusion bodies could not be demonstrated in mice following intraperitoneal injection of the virus, but were readily demonstrated following its intracerebral inoculdation. Pigeons at Ipswich provide a reservoir of ornithosis virus and a potential source of human infection.