a b s t r a c t
Beak and feather disease is caused by Circovirus, which affects actively growing beak and feather cells of
avian species. The disease affectsmainly young birds while older birdsmay overcome the disease with few
lasting effects. Due to lack of treatment, the only way to control the disease is through hygiene and early
diagnosis. As a diagnostic tool, we have established a Taqman probe based real-time PCR assay to detect
the presence of the viral genome in psittacine birds in UAE and reported the incidence of circovirus in
different species of psittacine birds. The sensitivity of our assay was found to be very high with detection
limit of up to 3.5 fg of DNA in the sample. The mean prevalence of circovirus was found to be 58.33% in
African Grey Parrots, 34.42% in Cockatoos, 31.8% in amazon parrots and 25.53% in Macaws.
The Taqman assay is a quick, reliable and sensitive detection method that has been instrumental in
identifying this disease that was not previously reported in the region