RollinsDiagnosticLaboratory,NCDepartmentofAgriculture &ConsumerServices,Raleigh,NC27606

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OscarJ.Fletcher TahseenAbdulAziz

AvianEncephalomyelitis

PoultryHealthManagement,PopulationHealth& PathobiologyDepartment,CollegeofVeterinaryMedicine, NCStateUniversity,Raleigh,NC27606

Avianencephalomyelitis(AE)isaninfectiousviraldiseaseofyoung(1to3weekold) chickens,turkeys,pheasants,andquail.Thecausativevirusisamemberofthe Picornaviridaefamily.OlderchickensmayhavecataractsasaconsequenceofAEinfection. Susceptiblelayinghenscanhavereductionineggproductionandhatchability.Becausethe viruscanbetransmittedthroughtheegg,immunizationofhensiscritical forcontrolof thisdisease. Clinicalsignsinyoungbirdsincludeparalysis,ataxiaandrapidtremorsoftheheadand neck.Thetermepidemictremorisoftenusedforthisdisease.Olderbirdsshownoclinical signs. Grosslesionsarelimitedtowhitefocithatmaybeseeninthetunicamuscularisofthe ventriculus(gizzard).Olderchickenscandevelopcataractsasaresultofinfectionwhen younger. Diagnosis:Thevirusreplicatesinandcausesstuntingofchickembryos.IfinfectedbyAE virus,hatchedchickswillexhibitneurologicsigns.Anumberofserologictestscanbeused inthediagnosisofAEandinclude:virusneutralization,indirectfluorescentantibody, immunodiffusion,enzymelinkedimmunoassay(ELISA),andreversetranscriptase polymerasechainreaction(RTPCR).Infectioninyoungbirdswithclinicalsignsusually resultsincharacteristichistologiclesionsthatareshowninthisstudyset.Notallbirdswill haveallofthelesionsillustrated.Thelocationofbrainlesions,especiallyifcentral chromatolysisispresentandsupportinglesionsareidentifiedinthespinalcordandvisceral organs,arediagnostic.Otherorgans,includingspinalcord,proventriculus,gizzardand heartshouldbeexaminedtoconfirmthatthenodularlymphocyticlesionpatternis characteristicofAE.

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LinkstoAdditionalInformation
CornellAtlasofAvianDiseases
http://partnersah.vet.cornell.edu/avianatlas/ Thissitecontainsimagesofstuntedembryosand grosslesionsinthegizzard. YouwillneedtoenterAvianEncephalomyelitisin thediseasesearchboxtobedirectedtothe specificsection.

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References

Calnek,B.W.2008.AvianEncephalomyelitis.InDiseasesof Poultry.12th ed.Y.M.Saif,editor.AAAP.Pp430441 Wei,Li,Zhou,J.,Wang,J.,andLiu,J.2008.Developmentofa NonRadioactiveDigoxigenin cDNA ProbefortheDetectionof AvianEncephalomyelitisVirus.AvianPathol.37(2):187191 Welchman,D.Cox,W.J.,Gough,R.E.,Wood,A.M.,Smyth,V. J.,Todd,D.,andSpackman,D.2009.AvianEncephalomyelitis VirusinRearedPheasants:ACaseStudey.AvianPathol.38(3): 251256

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