Psittacine beak and feather disease (PBFD), caused by beak and feather disease virus (BFDV) is a highly contagious disease in wild and captive psittacine populations and has an almost global presence. However, the BFDV infection in Saudi Arabia remains largely unknown. In the present study, we report the full genome sequence of BFDV strains from Saudi Arabia and its genetic diversity. The complete genome sequences were analyzed for 14 BFDV-infected birds representing 6 psittacine species. The complete genome sequence of BFDV strains was compared with 201 previously reported sequences to evaluate their diversity and possible recombination events, if any. Our analysis revealed that newly sequenced BFDV genomes from Saudi Arabia belonged to six different strains. Phylogenetic analysis suggested that the isolated BFDV genomes were highly recombinant with a high degree of diversity. It is evident from the study that psittacine species in Saudi Arabia are at risk from the spread of BFDV. As per the CITES trade database, about 190,000 parrots have been imported to Saudi Arabia since 1975 over a thousand instances. Presumably, during any of these trade events or unregulated trade of birds has predisposed the introduction of BFDV to Saudi Arabia. Understanding the epidemiology of BFDV is necessitated to address the threat posed by the virus to the psittacine population of Saudi Arabia.

由喙和羽毛病病毒 (BFDV) 引起的鹦鹉喙和羽毛病 (PBFD) 是一种在野生和圈养鹦鹉种群中具有高度传染性的疾病，几乎遍布全球。然而，沙特阿拉伯的 BFDV 感染在很大程度上仍然未知。在本研究中，我们报告了来自沙特阿拉伯的 BFDV 毒株的全基因组序列及其遗传多样性。分析了代表 6 个鹦鹉属物种的 14 只 BFDV 感染的鸟类的完整基因组序列。将 BFDV 菌株的完整基因组序列与 201 个先前报道的序列进行比较，以评估它们的多样性和可能的​​重组事件（如果有的话）。我们的分析表明，来自沙特阿拉伯的新测序的 BFDV 基因组属于六种不同的菌株。系统发育分析表明，分离的 BFDV 基因组是高度重组的，具有高度的多样性。从研究中可以明显看出，沙特阿拉伯的鹦鹉属物种面临 BFDV 传播的风险。根据 CITES 贸易数据库，自 1975 年以来，约有 190,000 只鹦鹉被进口到沙特阿拉伯，超过一千只。据推测，在任何这些贸易事件或不受管制的鸟类贸易期间，都容易将 BFDV 引入沙特阿拉伯。有必要了解 BFDV 的流行病学，以解决该病毒对沙特阿拉伯鹦鹉种群构成的威胁。自 1975 年以来，已向沙特阿拉伯进口了 000 多只鹦鹉，超过 1000 只。据推测，在任何这些贸易事件或不受管制的鸟类贸易期间，都容易将 BFDV 引入沙特阿拉伯。有必要了解 BFDV 的流行病学，以解决该病毒对沙特阿拉伯鹦鹉种群构成的威胁。自 1975 年以来，已向沙特阿拉伯进口了 000 多只鹦鹉，超过 1000 只。据推测，在任何这些贸易事件或不受管制的鸟类贸易期间，都容易将 BFDV 引入沙特阿拉伯。有必要了解 BFDV 的流行病学，以解决该病毒对沙特阿拉伯鹦鹉种群构成的威胁。