Morphological and Immunohistochemical Examination of Lymphoproliferative Lesions Caused by Marek’s Disease Virus in Breeder Chickens

Abstract

Marek’s disease is widely controlled by vaccination programs; however, chickens are not totally protected, especially immediately after the vaccination when a strong challenge could interfere with the effectiveness of vaccination in the absence of proper biosecurity practice. This case report describes the occurrence of Marek’s disease (MD) observed in a breeder chicken flock reared southeast of Sicily. MD outbreak occurred from 32 to 47 weeks with an increase in weekly mortality rate (+0.4–0.6%). Overall, mortality rate related to Marek’s disease was about 6% at the end of the cycle. Carcasses of chickens found during the occurrence of disease underwent necropsy, and tissues were collected to confirm the infection. Gizzard, cecal tonsil, intestine, spleen and tumor mass were collected and analyzed from a carcass of one hen, 32 weeks old and apparently asymptomatic. Multiplex real-time PCR performed on spleen tissues detected the presence of MD virus pathogenic strain. Macroscopic and microscopic evaluation of the rest of the samples confirmed the neoplastic disease. Moreover, the immunophenotype of the tumor cells was identified as CD3 positive by immunohistochemical (IHC) staining. The vaccinated flock had become rapidly infected with the MD virus, which proves that the challenge of the MD virus was too strong in the rearing house at the beginning of the cycle, causing the outbreak.