Adenovirus respiratory infection in turkey poults.

A virus from turkey poults with respiratory signs was isolated in specific-pathogen-free embryonated chicken eggs and subsequently adapted to chicken embryo fibroblast and turkey kidney cell cultures, where round cell formation was observed. The cloned virus was ether-resistant and incorporated tridiated thymidine. Intra-nuclear icosahedral virus particles of 80 nm were detected. These physicochemical characteristics place this isolant into the adenovirus group of viruses. The disease was experimentally reproduced by intratracheal inoculation of one-day-old turkey poults. Snicking occurred in 100% of the birds and mortality reached 50%. CELO (Phelps strain) antiserum neutralized uncloned and cloned CUA-2 in chicken embryos and uncloned virus in chicken embryo fibroblast cell cultures. Quail bronchitis virus antiserum neutralized cloned CUA-2 in TK cells. Agar-gel precipitin lines of identity were formed using CELO antiserum and postinoculation sera from experimentally infected turkeys. Serologically, this virus should be classified as a type-1 adenovirus.