Abstract
Eight commercially available disinfectants, representing several major classes of chemical disinfectants, were evaluated for their ability to inactivate avian polyomavirus (Budgerigar fledgling disease virus). These disinfectants and their sources are listed in Table 1. Avian polyomavirus was considered to be a good test pathogen for a disinfectant because this nonenveloped virus is a frequently encountered pathogen that is considered to be relatively stable in the environment. Disinfectants were diluted according to the manufacturer's recommendations. Infectious virus preparations were placed in con tact with each diluted disinfectant for one minute or for five minutes at room temperature. After removal of the disinfectant by gel filtration, each sample was then placed on cultured cells to determine whether the virus was inactivated. Of the eight disinfectants tested, 0.525% sodium hypochlorite (Clorox) was considered the most economical. A stabilized chlorine dioxide (Dent-A-Gene) was effective and would be expected to be the safest. Chlorohexadine (Nolvasan) reduced but did not eliminate the infectivity of avian polyomavirus, which may explain why aviaries that use this disinfectant in the nursery frequently experience polyomavirus outbreaks. Heating the virus to 60°C for 5 minutes or 30 minutes reduced the titer of the virus, but did not eliminate infectivity.
An Overview of Avian Polyomavirns
The first acute, generalized infection associated with a polyomavirus was described in young psittacine birds and was called Budgerigar fledgling disease (BFD). 1•5 A virus that is similar to the one that causes Budgerigar fledgling disease has been shown to be associated with high levels of sickness, and in some cases death, in finches and a number of different genera of psittacine birds. It should be noted that while the polyomaviruses that infect Budgerigars, finches and larger psittacine birds have similarities, the clinical presentation, distribution of lesions and problems that the viruses cause within a flock are dramatically different among susceptible...
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