Oligonucleotide pairs were constructed for priming the ampli® cation of fragments of nucleocapsid (N) protein and spike glycoprotein (S) genes of avian infectious bronchitis virus (IBV) by reverse transcriptionpolymerase chain reaction (RT-PCRThe S1 gene oligonucleotide pairs were applied to the same tissue preparations and they detected speci® cally the Massachusetts (M41 and H120), the D1466 and the 793B strains of IBV at rates varying between 58 and 92%. When the mixtures of the primers were applied, the detection rate in tissue preparations was reduced to the level of 50 to 67%. It is concluded that the direct detection of IBV in tracheal tissues by RT-PCR is more sensitive than IHC and that the RT-PCR technique is able to distinguish between types of IBV.

Summary The finding of a morphological similar type of chronic hepatitis in three young and related Standard Poodles is reported. The chronic hepatitis had some resemblance to lobular dissecting hepatitis that is a rare hepatobiliary disorder predominantly described in Standard Poodles, but it could not be concluded whether or not this was actually the diagnosis. However, as the finding of a morphological similar type of chronic hepatitis in three related dogs is rather uncommon, a common genetic or environmental background might be involved in the etiopathogenesis of the disease.

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A total of 146 of 506 ostriches (Struthio camelus) introduced into a quarantine in Denmark died within the first 23 days. The majority of deaths were in young birds up to 10 kg body weight. Avian influenza A viruses (AIVs) were isolated from 14 pools of organ tissues representing seven groups each of three or four ostriches, which died over the first 3 weeks. The AIVs were detected in respiratory tissues, kidneys and intestines. All were subtype H5N2. The intravenous pathogenicity index of each isolate for chickens was 0.0 and the four isolates examined each had the amino acid sequence -P-Q-R-E-T-R*G-L-F-at the cleavage site of the haemagglutinin protein, typical of non-pathogenic AIVs. In addition, an avirulent avian paramyxovirus type 1 virus was isolated from one pool of kidney tissues.Bacteriological examination gave no significant results. The most characteristic pathological findings were impaction of the proventriculus and gizzard, enteritis with stasis and multi-focal necrotic hepatitis.

Chickens representing two different inbred lines (layer and meat-type) and three different B haplotypes (BW1, B19 and B131) were infected with infectious bursal disease virus (IBDV) at 21 days of age. Mortality was recorded, and surviving chickens were killed and examined either 3 or 17 days post-infection. Non-infected control chickens were run in parallel. The variables recorded were all significantly changed by the virus infection, including the serum concentration of mannan-binding lectin that was increased 2-fold 3 days post-infection. A significantly increased mortality, liver to body weight ratio and erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR) was seen among chickens from the layer type line compared with the meat-type line. In addition, the haplotype of the chickens influenced the atrophy and hypertrophy of the thymus. It was concluded that the meat-type chicken line was more resistant to IBDV infection than the layer-type line, and that mortality rate, liver to body weight ratio and ESR were valuable variables for evaluation of the level of IBDV infection-induced inflammation and disease.