1. Experimental infection of domestic turkeys with lymphoproliferative disease virus of North American origin.
- Author
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Goodwin CC, Adcock KG, Allison AB, Ruder MG, Poulson RL, and Nemeth NM
- Subjects
- Animals, Lymphoproliferative Disorders veterinary, Lymphoproliferative Disorders virology, Lymphoproliferative Disorders pathology, DNA, Viral genetics, Female, Tumor Virus Infections veterinary, Tumor Virus Infections virology, Tumor Virus Infections pathology, Tumor Virus Infections epidemiology, Virus Shedding, North America epidemiology, Male, Retroviridae Infections veterinary, Retroviridae Infections virology, Retroviridae Infections pathology, Spleen pathology, Spleen virology, Turkeys virology, Poultry Diseases virology, Poultry Diseases pathology, Poultry Diseases epidemiology
- Abstract
Lymphoproliferative disease virus (LPDV) was first documented in wild turkeys in North America in 2009. LPDV infection is often subclinical but can manifest as lymphoid proliferation or round cell neoplasia. Despite high prevalence across many sampled areas corresponding to declining populations of wild turkeys, knowledge regarding LPDV pathogenesis, risk factors for disease development, and associated impacts on population dynamics are unknown. To understand transmission, viral shedding, and tissue tropism, we inoculated 21 domestic turkeys via the oral cavity, crop, nasal cavity, subcutis, or coelomic cavity. For 12 weeks, oropharyngeal swabs, cloacal swabs, and whole blood were collected weekly. At 1 week postinoculation, 3 turkeys (3/21; 14%) had detectable LPDV proviral DNA in blood by polymerase chain reaction, and 10 developed DNAemia (50%; 10/20) by 12 weeks. LPDV proviral DNA was intermittently detected in oropharyngeal and cloacal swabs. Splenomegaly was the most consistent gross finding in DNAemic birds (8/11; 73%). Lymphoid hyperplasia in the spleen was the most significant microscopic finding (9/11; 82%). Three turkeys (3/11; 27%) developed round cell neoplasia characterized by sheets of pleomorphic, round to polygonal cells in the adrenal gland, bone marrow, skin, small intestine, and/or spleen. LPDV was detected in the spleen and bone marrow from all turkeys with DNAemia and all neoplasms. Our study establishes that infection and disease with North American LPDV from wild turkeys can be experimentally reproduced in domestic turkeys, laying the groundwork for future investigations into LPDV pathogenesis, development of diagnostic techniques, and understanding the impacts of LPDV on wild turkey populations., Competing Interests: Declaration of Conflicting InterestsThe author(s) declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.
- Published
- 2024
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