A two year survey on the control of the importation of captive birds into Great Britain.

Abstract

The operation of the Importation of Captive Birds Order 1976 is described. In the first 24 months that the order was effective, a total of 183,189 birds were landed. Of these 5829 (3.18 per cent) were dead on arrival, 8643 (4.71 per cent) died in quarantine and 474 batches of carcases were submitted for post mortem examination. Chlamydia infections were diagnosed in birds from 14 quarantine/isolation lots and salmonellae were isolated from 23 lots. Thirty-six haemagglutinating agents were isolated from 17 quarantine/isolation lots. These were identified as eight influenza A viruses with Hav 7 Neq 2 subtypes (associated with two importations); 14 influenza A viruses with Hav 4 Nav 1 subtypes (six importations); four yucaipa-like paramyxoviruses (three importations); four 449-like paramyxoviruses (two importations); one unspecified paramyxovirus; five Newcastle disease viruses (NDV) (two importations). Four of the NDV isolates, associated with one importation, were shown to be velogenic viruses by intravenous pathogenicity index tests in six-week-old chickens.