Specific-pathogen-free Turkey model for reoviral arthritis

John M Ngunjiri; Amir Ghorbani; Hyesun Jang; Sumyya Waliullah; Mohamed Elaish; Michael C Abundo; Mahesh Kc; Kara J M Taylor; Robert E Porter; Chang-Won Lee

doi:10.1016/j.vetmic.2019.06.016

Specific-pathogen-free Turkey model for reoviral arthritis

Vet Microbiol. 2019 Aug:235:170-179. doi: 10.1016/j.vetmic.2019.06.016. Epub 2019 Jun 27.

Authors

Affiliations

¹ Food Animal Health Research Program, Ohio Agricultural Research and Development Center, The Ohio State University, Wooster, OH, USA. Electronic address: ngunjiri.1@osu.edu.
² Food Animal Health Research Program, Ohio Agricultural Research and Development Center, The Ohio State University, Wooster, OH, USA; Department of Veterinary Preventive Medicine, College of Veterinary Medicine, The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH, USA.
³ Food Animal Health Research Program, Ohio Agricultural Research and Development Center, The Ohio State University, Wooster, OH, USA.
⁴ Minnesota Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory, Department of Veterinary Population Medicine, University of Minnesota, St. Paul, MN, USA.
⁵ Food Animal Health Research Program, Ohio Agricultural Research and Development Center, The Ohio State University, Wooster, OH, USA; Department of Veterinary Preventive Medicine, College of Veterinary Medicine, The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH, USA. Electronic address: lee.2854@osu.edu.

PMID: 31383299
DOI: 10.1016/j.vetmic.2019.06.016

Abstract

Turkey arthritis reovirus (TARV) infections have been recognized since 2011 to cause disease and significant economic losses to the U.S. turkey industry. Reoviral arthritis has been reproduced in commercial-origin turkeys. However, determination of pathogenesis or vaccine efficacy in these turkeys can be complicated by enteric reovirus strains and other pathogens that ubiquitously exist at subclinical levels among commercial turkey flocks. In this study, turkeys from a specific-pathogen-free (SPF) flock were evaluated for use as a turkey reoviral arthritis model. One-day-old or 1-week-old poults were orally inoculated with TARV (O'Neil strain) and monitored for disease onset and progression. A gut isolate of turkey reovirus (MN1 strain) was also tested for comparison. Disease was observed only in TARV-infected birds. Features of reoviral arthritis in SPF turkeys included swelling of hock joints, tenosynovitis, distal tibiotarsal cartilage erosion, and gait defects (lameness). Moreover, TARV infection resulted in a significant depression of body weights during the early times post-infection. Age-dependent susceptibility to TARV infection was unclear. TARV was transmitted to all sentinel birds, which manifested high levels of tenosynovitis and tibiotarsal cartilage erosion. Simulation of stressful conditions by dexamethasone treatment did not affect the viral load or exacerbate the disease. Collectively, the clinical and pathological features of reoviral arthritis in the SPF turkey model generally resembled those induced in commercial turkeys under field and/or experimental conditions. The SPF turkey reoviral arthritis model will be instrumental in evaluation of TARV pathogenesis and reoviral vaccine efficacy.

Keywords: Avian reovirus; Specific pathogen free turkey model; Tenosynovitis; Turkey arthritis reovirus; Viral arthritis.

MeSH terms

Animals
Arthritis / veterinary*
Arthritis / virology
Disease Models, Animal*
Reoviridae Infections / veterinary*
Specific Pathogen-Free Organisms*
Turkeys*