Immunofluorescence studies on the early pathogenesis of hemorrhagic enteritis virus infection in turkeys and chickens.

Chickens and turkeys not previously exposed to hemorrhagic enteritis virus (HEV) were inoculated orally with the virus. Birds were necropsied each day from the first to the eighth day following inoculation, and specimens from various tissues were collected for examination. Clinical illness was noted only in turkeys, although intestinal hemorrhages and swollen, necrotic spleens were seen in both species. The distribution and localization of viral antigens in various tissues and peripheral blood lymphocytes were studied by the immunofluorescent technique. The patterns of HEV infection in chickens and turkeys were similar, except there was a high level and persistence of viral antigen in the thymus of turkeys but not in chickens.