Marek's Disease - Diagnosis

Diagnosis

Diagnosis of lymphoid tumors in poultry is complicated due to multiple etiological agents capable of causing very similar tumors. It is not uncommon that more than one avian tumor virus can be present in a chicken, thus one must consider both the diagnosis of the disease/tumors (pathological diagnosis) and of the virus (etiological diagnosis). A step-wise process has been proposed for diagnosis of Marek’s disease which includes (1) history, epidemiology, clinical observations and gross necropsy, (2) characteristics of the tumor cell, and (3) virological characteristics

The demonstration of peripheral nerve enlargement along with suggestive clinical signs in a bird that is around three to four months old (with or without visceral tumors) is highly suggestive of Marek's Disease. Histological examination of nerves reveals infiltration of pleomorphic neoplastic and inflammatory lymphocytes. Peripheral neuropathy should also be considered as a principal rule out in young chickens with paralysis and nerve enlargement without visceral tumors, especially in nerves with interneuritic edema and infiltration of plasma cells.

The presence of nodules on the internal organs may also suggest Marek's disease but further testing is required for confirmation. This is done through histological demonstration of lymphomatous infiltration into the affected tissue. A range of leukocytes can be involved, including lymphocytic cell lines such as large lymphocyte, lymphoblast, primitive reticular cells and occasional plasma cells as well as macrophage and plasma cells. The T-cells are involved in the malignancy, showing neoplastic changes with evidence of mitosis. The lymphomatous infiltrates need to be differentiated from other conditions that affect poultry including Lymphoid Leukosis and Reticuloendotheliosis, as well as an inflammatory event associated with hyperplastic changes of the affected tissue.

Key clinical signs as well as gross and microscopic features that are most useful for differentiating Marek’s disease from Lymphoid Leukosis and Reticuloendotheliosis include (1) Age: MD can affect birds at any age, including <16 weeks of age; (2) Clinical signs: Frequent wing and leg paralysis; (3) Incidence: >5% in unvaccinated flocks; (4) Potential nerve enlargement; (5) Interfollicular tumors in the Bursa of Fabricius; (6) CNS involvement; (7) Lymphoid proliferation in skin and feather follicles; (8) Pleomorphic lymphoid cells in nerves and tumors; (9) T-cell lymphomas.

In addition to gross pathology and histology, other advanced procedures used for a definitive diagnosis of Marek’s disease include immunohistochemistry to identify cell type and virus-specific antigens, standard and quantitative PCR for identification of the virus, virus isolation to confirm infections and serology to confirm/exclude infections.

The World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE) reference laboratories for Marek’s disease include the Institute for Animal Health, Compton Laboratory, UK and the USDA Avian Disease and Oncology Laboratory, USA.