Myopathy and encephalopathy in chick embryos experimentally infected with Akabane virus

Chick embryos infected with Akabane virus by the yolk sac route at 6 days of incubation developed polymyositis and encephalitis. At 3 to 7 days after inoculation, skeletal muscles had myotubule degeneration, clumping of muscle cell nuclei, and infiltration of heterophils; dysplasia and aplasia were evident at 9 to 15 days after inoculation. Changes in the cerebral neostriatum and optic lobes at 2 to 11 days after inoculation included necrosis of primordial nervous tissue, hemorrhages, and hyperplasia of the vascular endothelial cells. Cavities were in nervous tissue subsequent to encephalitis. Hydranencephaly and vascular wall thickening were found 13 and 15 days after inoculation. Embryos infected intravenously at 15 days incubation had foci of encephalitis 3 to 6 days after inoculation, including neuronal degeneration, neuroglial hyperplasia, vascular endothelial proliferation, and heterophil infiltration.