Contaminated faeces and aerosolized dust has been documented to transmit the virus. Chicks that have protective level of antibody from the yolk sac may infect susceptible chicks in the same nursery. Repeated finding of the virus in crop washings and feather samples from persistently infected adults that are clinically normal is responsible for continued spread of the virus in the aviary. Respiratory secretions have also shown virus so that breathing the air is all that is necessary in theory to transmit the disease. Virus shed from the kidney and reproductive tract are also probable sources of infection.
Polyoma virus is resistant to many environmental conditions, disinfectants and heat.
Chlorine is effective in killing polyoma as are many commercially available disinfectants. Available from VET-ARK . Violators of the closed aviary concept are the primary manner of introduction of disease into the aviary. Birds found to be shedding the virus or are suspected should be isolated and managed separately from non shedders. These birds can produce healthy offspring that are not carriers or clinically diseased, but the chicks from a carrier breeding collection should be raised in a separate nursery from the chicks from a non carrier group of birds.