Molecular detection of avian pox virus from nodular skin and mucosal fibrinonecrotic lesions of Iranian backyard poultry

Abstract

In recent years, some outbreaks of skin lesions suspected to be avian pox were observed in the backyard poultry in different parts of western areas in Iran. Consequently, 328 backyard poultries with suspected signs of avian pox virus infection were sampled. All birds showed nodular lesions on unfeathered head skin and/or fibronecrotic lesions on mucus membrane of the oral cavity and upper respiratory tract. For histopathological analysis, the sections of tissue samples from cutaneous lesions of examined birds were stained with H&E method. For PCR, after DNA extraction a 578-bp fragment of avian pox virus from 4b core protein gene was amplified. Results showed 217 and 265 out of 328 (66.1 and 80.7%, respectively) samples were positive for avian pox virus on histopathological and PCR examination, respectively. In this study, the samples that had intracytoplasmic inclusion bodies on pathologic examination were PCR positive. This study revealed that PCR is a valuable tool for identification of an avian pox virus and that the frequency of pox infection in backyard poultry in western areas of Iran is high.

Prevalence and Genetic Diversity of Avipoxvirus in House Sparrows in Spain

“…We confirmed viral infection by molecular analysis in 63% of all lesions tested (from approximately 50% of birds with visual lesions examined). This result fits within the values previously found in studies using tissue samples (52.1% to 82.2%) [10,34,41]. Negative results by molecular testing may be due to superficial sampling techniques; the necessity of using minimally invasive sampling of live birds may have led to some false negative results.…”

“…In addition, factors including the cyclical boom in immune naïve hatch-year birds may also play a role in the observed prevalences. In fact, higher pox prevalences are more frequently reported in juveniles than in adults [2,4,16,40,41, this study]. This fact could be due to the naïve immunological status of juvenile birds or the existence of frequent asymptomatic infections in adults.…”

Biosecurity Strategies for Backyard Poultry: A Controlled Way for Safe Food Production

“…Sequence analysis revealed the presence of nearly full-length reticuloendotheliosis provirus within the genome of fowlpox virus (Biswas et al, 2011a,b). A number of fowlpox outbreaks without reticuloendotheliosis virus have also been reported from backyard poultry at different regions of India and Iran (Dana et al, 2000;Das et al, 2013;Gholami-Ahangaran et al, 2014;Roy et al, 2013;Saha, 2003). Further study detected immunodominant B-cell and T-cell antigens in the fowlpox virus isolates from backyard birds, which will be useful for vaccine production (Roy et al, 2015).…”

A Review of Pathogen Transmission at the Backyard Chicken–Wild Bird Interface

“…Illegally trapped and transported individuals were found to have been exposed to NDV, avian poxvirus, and Chlamydia spp. ; pathogens were also found in backyard chickens (188,(225)(226)(227). In Burkina Faso, three hooded vultures (Necrosyrtes monachus), a western plantain-eater (Crinifer piscator), and an Ovambo sparrowhawk (Accipiter ovampensis) were infected with various combinations of HPAI, NDV, and IBV (228).…”