Clinical and serological tests for arboviruses in free-living domestic pigeons (Columba livia)

Eighty-five healthy pigeons were captured in Mangal das Garcas Park, in Belem, and were bled. Upon capture, the birds were subjected to a clinical examination in search of alterations that could indicate the presence of arboviruses. Blood samples were converted to serum and tested using the haemagglutination inhibition (HI) technique with a panel of 19 antigens of arboviruses circulating in the Amazon. The confirmation assay for the positive reactions to the viral species tested by HI was a neutralisation test in new-born Swiss albino mice (