Absolute quantification of Marek's disease virus serotype 2 (MDV2) using real-time polymerase chain reaction and its application to field dust samples

Abstract

Methods for taqman real-time PCR assays to detect the three serotypes of MDV are available (Islam et al., 2004), and an absolute quantification has been developed for MDV serotype 1 and serotype 3. The development of a method for absolute quantification of Marek's disease virus serotype 2 (MDV2) is described in this paper. Thus, it is now possible to perform qPCR assays for all three serotypes ofMDV on a sample. Absolute quantification of MDV2 in dust samples from poultry farms across Australia in a preliminary study, revealed the presence of MDV2 in 13 of 30 samples tested.