Epidemiological vigilance of polyomavirus and circovirus in wild birds of Serra do Mar State Park in Brazil

• Grant number: 25/00448-9
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Scientific Initiation
• Start date: May 01, 2025
• End date: April 30, 2026
• Field of knowledge: Biological Sciences - Microbiology
• Principal Investigator: João Pessoa Araújo Junior
• Grantee: Marina Raspante de Oliveira Ferreira
• Host Institution: Instituto de Biotecnologia (IBTEC). Universidade Estadual Paulista (UNESP). Campus de Botucatu. Botucatu , SP, Brazil

Abstract

The search for pathogens in free roaming wild animals is important and necessary to build conservation strategies and control diseases outbreaks, which can affect populations and even become an extinction threat. Many of these illnesses can be caused by virus, for example, the avian polyomavirus (APV) and the avian circovirus (BFDV), the first being the cause of a disease known as budgerigar fledging disease and the latter being the cause of beak and feathers disease, for they affect the skin and feathers mostly, besides the high mortality rates in younger birds. This proposal has as objective the realization of a laboratorial vigilance for APV and BFDV in fecal samples from wild life passerine birds, collected in the period from february of 2022 to august of 2023, in the region of Parque Estadual da Serra do Mar, in the state of São Paulo.