Marek's disease virus (Kekava strain) replication in chickens, chick embryos and cell cultures

In the course of 12 passages of Marek's disease virus (MDV) strain Kekava (MDV-Kekava) in chickens, the morbidity varied greatly (from 23 to 50 percent). MDV-Kekava produced plaques in cultures of chick embryo kidney and adult chicken kidney cells and chick embryo fibroblasts (CEF). The virus adaptation to the cultures was very slow. MDV-Kekava induced the formation of pocks on the chorioallantoic membranes (CAM) of chick embryos but the proportion of embryos with CAM lesions did not exceed 24 percent. Serial passaging of the virus in chick embryos beyond the 5th passage was unsuccessful. The results of virus isolation in chickens, cell cultures and chick embryos indicate the possibility of a long-term latent virus carrier state in chickens without development of tumours.