The First Record of an Aggressive Form of Ocular Tumour Enhanced by Marek’s Disease Virus Infection in Layer Flock in Al-Najaf, Iraq

Marek’s disease (MD) is a highly infectious poultry illness with a tendency to form tumours in peripheral nerves and internal organs of affected birds. Tumours accompany MD, mostly caused by oncogenic Gallid alpha herpesvirus 2 (MD Herpes virus serotype I). Studies on avian tumours associated with M...

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Main Authors: Aoula Al-Zebeeby, Ali Hadi Abbas, Haider Abas Alsaegh, Furkan Sabbar Alaraji
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Wiley 2024-01-01
Series:Veterinary Medicine International
Online Access:http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/2024/1793189
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author Aoula Al-Zebeeby
Ali Hadi Abbas
Haider Abas Alsaegh
Furkan Sabbar Alaraji
author_facet Aoula Al-Zebeeby
Ali Hadi Abbas
Haider Abas Alsaegh
Furkan Sabbar Alaraji
author_sort Aoula Al-Zebeeby
collection DOAJ
description Marek’s disease (MD) is a highly infectious poultry illness with a tendency to form tumours in peripheral nerves and internal organs of affected birds. Tumours accompany MD, mostly caused by oncogenic Gallid alpha herpesvirus 2 (MD Herpes virus serotype I). Studies on avian tumours associated with MD infection are limited in Iraq. In the presented study, the positive samples of ocular tumour were 168 out of 282 MD positive samples, which accomplished in farm suffered from an unexpectedly high mortality rate. We investigated a rapidly developed tumour mass that was observed in an MD-vaccinated layer flock that showed obvious clinical signs of MD, accompanied by forming a small lump in one eye at age 21 weeks, which developed to a big lump at week 28 of age, leading to death. The diagnosis MD infection was confirmed by a Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) amplification of a specific region of the target gene meq of the causative agent, followed by Sanger sequencing and BLASTn search of the sequence against the NCBI nucleic acid database, resulted in Gallid alpha herpes virus 2 strain, and according to the phylogenetic analysis, the sequence from this study was uniquely clustered in its own branch in the tree. Histopathological examination of the ocular tumour core revealed aggregation of neoplastic cells and haemorrhage that replaced the normal eye tissue, as well as early tumour formation in internal organs such as the lung and liver. In addition, abnormal lesions are susceptible to tumours in the gizzard and spleen. To our knowledge, this is the first record of an aggressive MD virus infection-mediated ocular tumour in a layer flock in Al-Najaf province, Iraq.
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spelling doaj-art-cb80d11bb13d47b683572bd54fe89cec2025-02-03T12:01:07ZengWileyVeterinary Medicine International2042-00482024-01-01202410.1155/2024/1793189The First Record of an Aggressive Form of Ocular Tumour Enhanced by Marek’s Disease Virus Infection in Layer Flock in Al-Najaf, IraqAoula Al-Zebeeby0Ali Hadi Abbas1Haider Abas Alsaegh2Furkan Sabbar Alaraji3Department of Pathology and Poultry DiseasesDepartment of Veterinary MicrobiologyDepartment of Pathology and Poultry DiseasesDepartment of Pathology and Poultry DiseasesMarek’s disease (MD) is a highly infectious poultry illness with a tendency to form tumours in peripheral nerves and internal organs of affected birds. Tumours accompany MD, mostly caused by oncogenic Gallid alpha herpesvirus 2 (MD Herpes virus serotype I). Studies on avian tumours associated with MD infection are limited in Iraq. In the presented study, the positive samples of ocular tumour were 168 out of 282 MD positive samples, which accomplished in farm suffered from an unexpectedly high mortality rate. We investigated a rapidly developed tumour mass that was observed in an MD-vaccinated layer flock that showed obvious clinical signs of MD, accompanied by forming a small lump in one eye at age 21 weeks, which developed to a big lump at week 28 of age, leading to death. The diagnosis MD infection was confirmed by a Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) amplification of a specific region of the target gene meq of the causative agent, followed by Sanger sequencing and BLASTn search of the sequence against the NCBI nucleic acid database, resulted in Gallid alpha herpes virus 2 strain, and according to the phylogenetic analysis, the sequence from this study was uniquely clustered in its own branch in the tree. Histopathological examination of the ocular tumour core revealed aggregation of neoplastic cells and haemorrhage that replaced the normal eye tissue, as well as early tumour formation in internal organs such as the lung and liver. In addition, abnormal lesions are susceptible to tumours in the gizzard and spleen. To our knowledge, this is the first record of an aggressive MD virus infection-mediated ocular tumour in a layer flock in Al-Najaf province, Iraq.http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/2024/1793189
spellingShingle Aoula Al-Zebeeby
Ali Hadi Abbas
Haider Abas Alsaegh
Furkan Sabbar Alaraji
The First Record of an Aggressive Form of Ocular Tumour Enhanced by Marek’s Disease Virus Infection in Layer Flock in Al-Najaf, Iraq
Veterinary Medicine International
title The First Record of an Aggressive Form of Ocular Tumour Enhanced by Marek’s Disease Virus Infection in Layer Flock in Al-Najaf, Iraq
title_full The First Record of an Aggressive Form of Ocular Tumour Enhanced by Marek’s Disease Virus Infection in Layer Flock in Al-Najaf, Iraq
title_fullStr The First Record of an Aggressive Form of Ocular Tumour Enhanced by Marek’s Disease Virus Infection in Layer Flock in Al-Najaf, Iraq
title_full_unstemmed The First Record of an Aggressive Form of Ocular Tumour Enhanced by Marek’s Disease Virus Infection in Layer Flock in Al-Najaf, Iraq
title_short The First Record of an Aggressive Form of Ocular Tumour Enhanced by Marek’s Disease Virus Infection in Layer Flock in Al-Najaf, Iraq
title_sort first record of an aggressive form of ocular tumour enhanced by marek s disease virus infection in layer flock in al najaf iraq
url http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/2024/1793189
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