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Article History

Received: 9 November 2021

Accepted: 28 February 2022

First Online: 11 April 2022

Declarations

:

: This study was performed according to the animal welfare guidelines of the World Organization for Animal Health, and animal sampling was strictly carried out in accordance with guidelines established by the Ethics Committee for Animal Experiments for Northwest A&F University, Yangling, China. The sampling was performed after a verbal informed consent of all racing pigeon club owners, primarily because: (i) There was no mandatory requirement for written document for sampling in the racing pigeon club based on the guidelines for animal experiments at our university; (ii) The sampling requirement was initially raised by the owners of racing pigeon club, in order to provide testing services for pigeon diseases. Besides, we also adherence to a best practice of veterinary care. All the protocols for animal experiments were approved by the Ethics Committee for Animal Experiments for Northwest A&F University, Yangling, China (Permit Number: 2014BAD23B11). The field study did not include endangered or protected species. No specific permissions were required for the collection of samples because the samples were collected from public areas or non-protected areas.

: Not applicable.

: The authors declare that they have no competing interests.