Wirusy onkogenne drobiu. Część I. Wirus białaczki kur

Abstract

The aim of this paper was to give a concise review of important poultry viruseswith oncogenic properties. Depending on whether the etiologic agent is known,neoplasms of poultry are divided into virus-induced neoplasms and neoplasmsof unknown etiology. There are three, economically important, virus-inducedneoplastic diseases of poultry: Marek’s disease (MD), caused by herpesvirus,avian leukosis/sarcoma (ALS) and reticuloendotheliosis (RE), both caused byretroviruses. Although these neoplastic diseases cause economic losses fromtumor mortality and poor performance, some have also served as highly suitablemodels to study pathogenesis of neoplasia. Lymphoid leukosis is a disease ofpoultry caused by avian leukosis virus (ALV). The disease is characterized bydevelopment of B-cell lymphoma in chickens aged approximately 16 weeks andolder. Standard criteria used for diagnosis include disease history, clinical signs,gross necropsy and histopathology. There is no treatment nor vaccine available, soeradication of the virus from breeding flocks is the most effective control method.