Disinfectants against Avian Polyomavirus
Article written by:
Psittacine Disease Research Group
University of Georgia College of Veterinary Medicine
Athens, GA 30602

In larger psittacine birds, polymavirus infections may cause peracute death with no permonitory signs of death 24-48 hours after developing clinical signs including depression and anorexia, delayed crop emptying, regurgitation, weight loss, subcutaneous hemorrhages, and diarrhea. Infections may occur in both parent and hand raised babies and clinical signs are most common at the time of weaning or stress.

To be spread from bird to bird, a virus must be capable of surviving a sufficient time outside of the originally infected bird for direct or indirecct contact with a host to occur. It is when a virus is in the environment that it is susceptible to inactivation. Any organic matter (i.e., food, feces, feathers, soil) that is in contact with the virus can serve as a protective matrix that increases a viruses survival time outside the host.

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 virus that is considered to be relatively stable in the environment. Disinfectants were diluted according to the manufacturers' recommendations. Infectious virus preparations were placed in contact with each diluted disinfectant for 1 minute or for 5 minutes at room temperature. After removal of the disinfectant by get 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) 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.

A number of disinfectants are available and widely used in veterinary hospitals, pet shops and avicultural settings to control pathogens of concern to companion birds. In general, the efficacy of these disinfectants for viruses that infect companion birds remains unreported. The use of a disinfectant that is ineffective against a particular pathogen can result in the spread of an infectious disease to other susceptible animals within a contaminated area.

The ideal disinfectant would rapidly inactivate a wide variety of bacteria, viruses and fungi, would be safe to use on inanimate objects, and would be safe to humans and animals. The health hazards associated with frequent exposure of companion birds (particularly neonates) as well as hospital or aviary personal to harsh disinfectants of their fumes rarely are considered when choosing a disinfectant.

Disinfectants are not uniformly effective against all organisms. Therefore, a product should be chosen based on its safety for exposed individual and animals and its specific ability to inactive important pathogens. Viruses that have a lipoprotein envelope are typically labile and are inactivated by most disinfectants. In comparison, viruses that do not have a lipoprotein envelope are typically resistant to harsh environmental conditions and many disinfectants. Avian polyomavirus also might be effective against enveloped viruses of importance to companion birds. Given the variety of disinfectant to use should be based on such factors as personal safety, the safety of any exposed animals, environmental impact, and economics.

A summary of the activity of each disinfectant tested against avian polyomavirus is listed in Table 2. The results of the present study suggest that sodium hypochlorite is the most inexpensive disinfectant tested that would inactivate avian polyomavirus. However, this compound does produce fumes that can be irritating to mucus membranes and must be used in areas with sufficient ventilation. In addition, sodium hypochlorite is irritating to the skin, is corrosive to metals and produces carcinogenic by products.

Stabilized chlorine dioxide was also found to inactivate polyomavirus. Some studies suggest that in many applications chlorine dioxide may be a superior disinfectant to sodium hypochlorite. At working dilution's, stabilized chlorine dioxide is considered safe for humans and animals and is used by many municipalities as the principle agent to eliminate potential pathogens from drinking water. In Europe, chlorine dioxine is used to treat drinking water because, unlike chlorine, it does not form carcinogenic trihalomethanes, chlorophenols or chloramines.

Chlorohexidine did not completely inactivate avian polyomavirus which may explain why nurseries that use this product to soak syringes between feedings can still experience polyomavirus outbreaks.

The present study was designed to evaluate the effectiveness of various disinfectants on avian polyomavirus under ideal conditions. It should be noted that the presence or organic debris (i.e., food, feces, feather, soil) will reduce the efficacy of most disinfectants, increasing the contact time needed for the disinfectant to inactivate a pathogen. Disinfectants that contain a detergent may be more effective in removing organic debris and may increase the effectiveness of a disinfectant under these conditions.

To maximize the effects of a disinfectant, contaminated surfaces should be thoroughly cleaned, and the disinfectant should be allowed to remain in contact with the surface for a sufficient period of time. For this study, 1 minute was used as the minimum exposure time for avian polyomavirus and a particular disinfectant.

This information was brought to you by the following:

Psittacine Disease Research Group:
University of Georgia College of Veterinary Medicine
Athens, GA 30602

Next posting: Preventing Polyomavirus Infections

Articles are Copyright Up At Six and cannot be reprinted without the written permission of Up At Six and the author.
Last Revised: Tue Jul 29 18:49:07 2008 ( Damian )
Return to Articles