Avian pox (APV) is a viral infection that causes proliferative lesions in wild and domestic bird species worldwide. Poxvirus infections are commonly cutaneous, though they may also produce virulent diphtheritic forms. The disease exists at very low prevalence where it is endemic and it has little impact on affected birds . However the infection can cause economic losses in domestic poultry and the introduction of APV, and other pathogens, to remote island archipelagos (e.g. Galapagos and Hawaii) has caused dramatic declines to the immunologically naïve, not to mention rare, avifauna of those island groups[3–5]. The disease is caused by Avipoxvirus, a genus of enveloped double-stranded DNA viruses. Transmission is mainly via arthropod vectors, though it can also occur via respiratory aerosols or contact with infected birds or contaminated surfaces like perches or nests . Poxvirus is extremely resistant to desiccation, and can survive in the environment for long periods  which may facilitate its transmission.