ARS | Publication request: Isolation of avian rotaviruses from a normal turkey flock and from a flock with signs of enteric disease

Submitted to: American Association of Avian Pathologists
Publication Type: Abstract Only
Publication Acceptance Date: February 5, 2008
Publication Date: N/A

Technical Abstract: It is often difficult to obtain enteric-origin viruses as pure isolates, complicating characterization and pathogenesis investigations. Two turkey-origin rotaviruses detected via NSP4-specific RT-PCR in pooled intestinal contents were isolated by serial passage in the African green monkey kidney cell line MA104. One rotavirus was isolated from a nine-day old flock with disease signs consistent with Poult Enteritis Complex (PEC). The second rotavirus was isolated from a nine-day old flock with no enteric signs. Following MA104 passage, turkey astrovirus type-2—also detected in both original samples—was eliminated and could no longer be detected via RT-PCR in cell culture supernatants. The rotavirus isolates were further characterized via sequence and electropherotype analysis.