Effects of fowl adenovirus infection on the immune system of chickens.

A virulent strain of serotype 8 fowl adenovirus (FAV) was isolated from an outbreak of inclusion body hepatitis (IBH) in broiler flocks. Post-mortem changes included characteristic liver lesions with intranuclear inclusion bodies in the hepatocytes and severe lymphocytic depletion in the bursa, thymus and spleen. The packed cell volume was reduced by 50 per cent or more and varying amounts of cell depletion were observed in the bone marrow. Typical IBH was reproduced in specific pathogen-free chickens inoculated orally with the FAV isolated from the natural infection. There was severe depletion of lymphocytes in the bursa, thymus and spleen of the experimentally infected birds and FAV antigens were detected by ELISA and immunocytochemical staining in various lymphoid tissues. Humoral antibody responses against sheep red blood cells, detected by the haemagglutination test, were decreased in the chickens infected with FAV. These findings suggest that the damage caused by replication of this virulent strain of FAV in lymphoid tissues compromises the immunological capabilities of infected chickens.