en تخصصي Special پژوهشي Original article <div style="border-bottom:solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-top:solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-left:none; border-right:none; padding:1.0pt 0in 1.0pt 0in"><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="unicode-bidi:embed"><span new="" roman="" style="font-family:" times=""><b><span style="font-size:11.0pt">Background and Aims: </span></b><span style="font-size:11.0pt">Psittacine Beak and Feather Disease Virus (PBFDV) causes persistent contagious diseases affecting feathers, immune systems, and beaks of companion birds. PBFDV causes progressive beak deformity, plumage loss, and feather dystrophy. We performed the prevalence survey of PBFDV infections in companion birds in the center of Iran.</span></span></span></span><br> <span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="unicode-bidi:embed"><span new="" roman="" style="font-family:" times=""><b><span style="font-size:11.0pt">Materials and Methods: </span></b><span style="font-size:11.0pt">In total, 120 fresh dropping specimens from apparently healthy companion birds were randomly isolated. The dropping specimens were assessed for PBFDV using PCR. Positive samples were sequenced by the Sanger method, and the sequence was approved by alignment and the phylogenetic tree generated by the maximum likelihood technique computationally.</span></span></span></span><br> <span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="unicode-bidi:embed"><span new="" roman="" style="font-family:" times=""><b><span style="font-size:11.0pt">Results:</span></b><span style="font-size:11.0pt"> PBFDV was found in 35.8% of specimens. PBFDV was found in cockatiel (<i>Nymphicus hollandicus</i>) specimens. Based on phylogenetic analysis, the Iranian isolates had the most similarities to Saudi Arabian isolates.</span></span></span></span><br> <span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="unicode-bidi:embed"><span new="" roman="" style="font-family:" times=""><b><span style="font-size:11.0pt">Conclusion: </span></b><span style="font-size:11.0pt">Such high rates of this pathogen emphasized that healthy <i>N. hollandicus</i> in the center of Iran are likely to spread and emergence from PBFDV with subclinical potential. Thus, virological assessments are needed before the export and import of birds</span><span style="font-size:11.0pt">.</span></span></span></span></div> Psittacine Beak and Feather Disease Virus, Phylogenetic analysis, Companion birds, Nymphicus hollandicus 47 52 http://journal.isv.org.ir/browse.php?a_code=A-10-1-99&slc_lang=en&sid=1 Mohammadreza Ghorani 10031947532846007120 10031947532846007120 Yes Pathobiology Department, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Tabriz, Tabriz, Iran. Mohammadreza Rezapanah 10031947532846007121 10031947532846007121 No Iranian Research Institute of Plant Protection (IRIPP), Agricultural Research, Education and Extension Organization (AREEO), Tehran, Iran. Center of Excellence for Organic Agriculture, Tehran, Iran. Iranian Network for Research in Viral Diseases, Tehran, Iran.