ORIGINAL PAPER Cutaneous and diphtheritic avian poxvirus infection in a nestling Southern Giant Petrel (Macronectes giganteus) from Antarctica

• Main Authors: Valerie Shearn-bochsler, D. Earl, Green Kathryn, A. Converse, Douglas E. Docherty, Teresa Thiel, Heidi N. Geisz, William R. Fraser, Donna L. Patterson-fraser, V. Shearn-bochsler, D. E. Docherty, T. Thiel, H. N. Geisz
• Other Authors: The Pennsylvania State University CiteSeerX Archives
• Format: Text
• Language: English
• Subjects: Pelagic seabird · Infectious disease; Austral; Giganteus; Palmer Station; Palmer-Station; Antarc*; Antarctica; Giant Petrel; Macronectes giganteus
• Online Access: http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/summary?doi=10.1.1.421.8807; http://www.umsl.edu/~thielt/Teresa Thiel, PhD_files/Shearn-Bochsler Thiel Pox.pdf

is declining over much of its range and currently is listed as vulnerable to extinction by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN). Island-speciWc breeding colonies near Palmer Station, Antarctica, have been monitored for over 30 years, and because this population continues to increase, it is critically important to conservation. In austral summer 2004, six diseased giant petrel chicks were observed in four of these colonies. Diseased chicks were 6–9 weeks old and had multiple proliferative nodules on their bills and skin. One severely aVected chick was found dead on the nest and was salvaged for necropsy. Histopathological examination of nodules from the dead chick revealed epithelial cell hyperplasia and hypertrophy with numerous eosinophilic intracytoplasmic inclusions (Böllinger bodies). A poxvirus was isolated from multiple nodules. Poxviral infection has not been reported in this