The virus was found from a collaboration between Landcare Research (Dan White, Dan Tompkins), ESR (Richard Hall), DOC (Kate McInnes) and Massey University (Brett Gartrell). Some rowi kiwi were being translocated from a crèche in Marlborough Sounds to Wellington Zoo as they showed signs of a verminous dermatitis.
De novo metagenomic sequencing was done on faecal matter to find any potential disease causing viruses. Very strong evidence was found for a circovirus-like virus which was confirmed with a follow-up PCR. This is interesting as members of this family of viruses are known to be pathogenic in birds, but rigorous follow-up work is needed to confirm any such association.
This work is currently in prep for submission to the journal Virus Genes. The sequence has been submitted Genbank.