Current Epidemiology and Co-Infections of Avian Immunosuppressive and Neoplastic Diseases in Chicken Flocks in Central China
Lu-Ping Zheng,
Man Teng,
Gui-Xi Li,
Wen-Kai Zhang,
Wei-Dong Wang,
Jin-Ling Liu,
Lin-Yan Li,
Yongxiu Yao,
Venugopal Nair,
Jun Luo
Affiliations
Lu-Ping Zheng
Key Laboratory of Animal Immunology, Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs of China & Henan Provincial Key Laboratory of Animal Immunology, Henan Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Zhengzhou 450002, China
Man Teng
Key Laboratory of Animal Immunology, Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs of China & Henan Provincial Key Laboratory of Animal Immunology, Henan Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Zhengzhou 450002, China
Gui-Xi Li
Shangqiu Center for Animal Disease Control and Prevention, Shangqiu 476000, China
Wen-Kai Zhang
Key Laboratory of Animal Immunology, Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs of China & Henan Provincial Key Laboratory of Animal Immunology, Henan Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Zhengzhou 450002, China
Wei-Dong Wang
Key Laboratory of Animal Immunology, Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs of China & Henan Provincial Key Laboratory of Animal Immunology, Henan Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Zhengzhou 450002, China
Jin-Ling Liu
Key Laboratory of Animal Immunology, Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs of China & Henan Provincial Key Laboratory of Animal Immunology, Henan Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Zhengzhou 450002, China
Lin-Yan Li
Key Laboratory of Animal Immunology, Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs of China & Henan Provincial Key Laboratory of Animal Immunology, Henan Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Zhengzhou 450002, China
Yongxiu Yao
The Pirbright Institute & UK-China Centre of Excellence for Research on Avian Diseases, Pirbright, Ash Road, Guildford, Surrey GU24 0NF, UK
Venugopal Nair
The Pirbright Institute & UK-China Centre of Excellence for Research on Avian Diseases, Pirbright, Ash Road, Guildford, Surrey GU24 0NF, UK
Jun Luo
Key Laboratory of Animal Immunology, Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs of China & Henan Provincial Key Laboratory of Animal Immunology, Henan Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Zhengzhou 450002, China
The avian immunosuppressive and neoplastic diseases caused by Marek’s disease virus (MDV), avian leucosis virus (ALV), and reticuloendotheliosis virus (REV) are seriously harmful to the global poultry industry. In recent years, particularly in 2020–2022, outbreaks of such diseases in chicken flocks frequently occurred in China. Herein, we collected live diseased birds from 30 poultry farms, out of 42 farms with tumour-bearing chicken flocks distributed in central China, to investigate the current epidemiology and co-infections of these viruses. The results showed that in individual diseased birds, the positive infection rates of MDV, ALV, and REV were 69.5% (203/292), 14.4% (42/292), and 4.7% (13/277), respectively, while for the flocks, the positive infection rates were 96.7% (29/30), 36.7% (11/30), and 20% (6/30), respectively. For chicken flocks, monoinfection of MDV, ALV, or REV was 53.3% (16/30), 3.3% (1/30), and 0% (0/30), respectively, but a total of 43.3% (13/30) co-infections was observed, which includes 23.3% (7/30) of MDV+ALV, 10.0% (3/30) of MDV+REV, and 10.0% (3/30) of MDV+ALV+REV co-infections. Interestingly, no ALV+REV co-infection or REV monoinfection was observed in the selected poultry farms. Our data indicate that the prevalence of virulent MDV strains, partially accompanied with ALV and/or REV co-infections, is the main reason for current outbreaks of avian neoplastic diseases in central China, providing an important reference for the future control of disease.
