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Rapid Diagnosis of Avian Influenza Virus in Wild Birds: Use of a Portable rRT-PCR and Freeze-dried Reagents in the Field
Published on: August 2, 2011
Avian reovirus infection in turkeys with neurological disease in Alberta
Ashish Gupta1, Hayley Bowling1, Teryn Girard1
1Diagnostic Services Unit, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Calgary, 11877 85th Street NW, Calgary, Alberta T3R 1J3 (Gupta, Zachar); Prairie Livestock Veterinarians, #1 4940 81st Street, Red Deer, Alberta T4P 3V3 (Bowling, Girard); Animal Health Laboratory, University of Guelph, 50 Stone Road East, Guelph, Ontario N1G 2W1 (Ojkic).
Abstract:
Avian reoviruses (ARVs) are ubiquitous and play a role in diseases affecting various organs in chickens and turkeys. In recent years, tenosynovitis and lameness emerged as the most frequently reported clinical conditions. In this report, we describe a case of neurological disease associated with ARV infection in 4-week-old turkeys in Alberta. A flock of 7650 commercial turkey toms exhibited neurological signs such as torticollis and ataxia that affected ~3 to 4% of birds in the flock. Histologic examination of brain samples collected at 6 wk revealed nonsuppurative encephalitis. A pooled brain sample was positive for ARV by PCR. By 9 wk of age, birds in the flock started developing lameness with no apparent neurological involvement, and tendon samples were positive by PCR. Partial sigma C gene amino acid sequences were obtained for the brain and tendon samples and were 91.4% identical. The brain and tendon samples showed 95.5% and 97.7% amino acid identities to ARVs from Ontario (ARV/Turkey/ON/17-049928) and Pennsylvania (ARV/Turkey/PA/01769-14), respectively. Similar cases are currently being investigated in western Canada. Key clinical message: Avian reoviruses should be considered one of the differential diagnoses in cases of neurological signs in commercial birds.
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