Herpesviruses of birds ‐ a review

Abstract

The family of herpesviridae is divided into the subfamilies alpha-, beta- and gammaherpesvirinae. Members of the alphaherpesvirinae (infectious laryngo-tracheitis in gallinaceous birds and duck viral enteritis in waterfowl) may cause substantial economic and ecological losses. Marek's disease and turkey herpesviruses are the only members of the gammaherpesvirinae. Most herpesviruses from free-living and pet birds are tentatively classified as bctaherpesvirinae. These may induce diseases, with variably non-specific clinical signs but including respiratory distress, ocular lesions, enteritis and liver involvement. Prominent pathological lesions consist either of haemorrhages on respiratory or intestinal epithelium or of multi-focal necrotic lesions in livers, spleen and bone marrow. At least four different plaque types of betaherpersvirinae can be differentiated in infected chick embryo fibroblasts or chick kidney cell cultures. Infectivity may be cell-associated or detectable in supernatant fluids and transformed cultured cells. All avian herpesviruses are presently grouped on the basis of results of cross neutralisation tests into 11 different serotypes.

Comparison of the genomes of 15 avian herpes‐virus isolates by restriction endonuclease analysis

“…However, the close relationship as shown by restriction analysis to the isolate ELM 653/75 (from a pigeon), classified as serotype 5, leads to the conclusion that the isolate from the owl also belongs to serotype 5. This would confirm earlier serological studies which cannot differentiate isolates from owls, pigeons and falcons (Kaleta, 1990).…”

“…Only recently has restriction endonuclease analysis of viral genomic DNA been introduced in the study of virus isolates from wild or pet birds. In this study, we attempted to apply restriction endonuclease analysis to differentiate 15 herpes- virus isolates from several avian species and to correlate these findings with earlier serological results (Kaleta, 1990). A close correlation between the serology and restriction typing of DNA was generally observed, indicating the suitability of DNA typing for comparative virological studies (Table 3).…”

“…In 1993, Aini et al demonstrated that three psittacine herpesvirus isolates serologically related with Pacheco's parrot disease herpesvirus had three very different DNA restriction patterns. They speculated, based on the existence of species-specific serotypes [Pacheco's virus, Amazon-tracheitis virus and Budgerigar herpesvirus (Kaleta, 1990)], that they had discovered three different psittacine herpesviruses.…”

“…However, due to inherent limitations of these methods, not all isolates could be differentiated. For example, herpesvirus isolates from falcons, pigeons, and owls belong to one serological group, and isolates from quail and crane react similarly in neutralization assays (Kaleta, 1990). Therefore, additional criteria for classification need to be established.…”

Comparison of commercial ELISA test kits from Australia and the USA with the serum neutralization test in cell cultures for the detection of antibodies to the infectious laryngotracheitis virus of chickens

“…Infectious laryngotracheitis (ILT) is a predominantly acute respiratory disease affecting mainly chickens, but also pheasants, peafowl and guineafowl (Kaleta, 1990). The disease is caused by a gallid herpesvirus 1 (an alpha-herpesvirus).…”