Circovirus infection in the pigeon: review and first experiences in Flanders

During the fall of 1998 a circovirus-infection was confirmed in a pigeon. T he pigeon came fi om a loft where different other diseases had been diagnos ed earlier and where flight results were mediocre. Macroscopic lesions incl uded swelling and edema of the bursa Fabricii and swelling of the spleen. I n the bursa intracytoplasmatic inclusion-bodies were found. These inclusion s were ultrastructurally shown to contain circovirus particles. The possibl e role of immunosuppression in the pathogenesis is discussed.