Isolation of Marek's Disease virus from dust samples from commercial chicken farms

Abstract

Marek's disease virus (MDV) replicates in chicken feather follicle epithelium and these cells serve as a source of infection for other chickens. We report the use of chicken dust collected in the field to isolate MDV in specific pathogen-free chickens. Chickens were infected via the respiratory route with MDV-positive chicken dust. Quantitative polymerase chain reaction (q-PCR) assay was used to quantify MDV in dust and spleen samples from the experiment. Two out of five field dust samples successfully induced infections with subsequent MDV recovery. Serological testing of chickens at day 56 post infection indicated that no other major poultry pathogens were transmitted by the infective dust material. Use of poultry dust as primary material for isolating MDV offers potential advantages over fresh tissues and this work has shown that with some refinement it is a feasible approach.