Circovirus-infected geese studied byin situhybridization

Abstract

It has now been established that circovirus infection is common in farmed geese, but little is known about the clinicopathological significance of such infections. Ten clinically diseased geese suspected of being infected by circovirus were studied by in situ hybridization using a goose circovirus DNA probe. Circovirus DNA was demonstrated in the bursa of Fabricius (BF), spleen, thymus, bone marrow, liver, kidney, lung and heart, indicating that infection can be multisystemic. In some birds, virus DNA was present in very large quantities, most notably in the BF, liver and small intestine. With the exception of BF and thymus, there were no histological findings that would have suggested the presence of such quantities of circovirus DNA. In view of the very large quantities of virus DNA labelling present in some tissues, and by analogy to porcine circovirus type 2 infection and psittacine beak and feather virus infections, which are known to cause severe disease, and which have similar virus distribution to that found in our geese, it seems probable that the circovirus was important in the disease manifestations shown by the infected geese.

Coronaviruses in poultry and other birds

“…Other members of the Circoviridae family, infecting species other than domestic fowl, have also been receiving attention; for example, beak and feather disease virus in psittacines (Hess et al ., 2004;Johne et al ., 2004;Raue et al ., 2004), goose circovirus (Chen et al ., 2003a;Ball et al ., 2004;Smyth et al ., 2005) and columbid circovirus in pigeons (Soike et al ., 2001).…”

Pathological observations of an experimental infection of geese with goose circovirus

“…In a case of co-occurrence of West Nile Fever and GoCV infection in a Hungarian goose flock, lymphocytic depletion and inclusion bodies were also observed (Glávits et al, 2005). In situ hybridization (ISH) demonstrated that GoCV DNA was present in the BF, spleen, thymus, bone marrow, liver, kidney, lung, heart and small intestine, indicating that infection could be multi-systemic (Smyth et al, 2005).…”

Detection of Porcine Circovirus Type 2 and Viral Replication by In Situ Hybridization in Primary Lymphoid Organs From Naturally and Experimentally Infected Pigs

“…4,44 Furthermore, the IPP is a mammalian homologue to the avian bursa of Fabricius, which is a major supplier of B lymphocytes, 44 and it is affected by the avian circoviruses. 37,42 In PMWS, the associated lymphopenia and lymphoid depletion affect B lymphocytes before T lymphocytes, 29,33 and the B lymphocytes also seem to be more susceptible to PCV2 infection. 24,45 Therefore, the function of the IPP and its influence on the total number of B lymphocytes in vivo should be examined further in pigs with PMWS.…”

“…The number of positive cells by CP and RFP ISH was scored as low, moderate, or massive, and the cells were morphologically characterized. The ISH process for both probes was identical and was carried out according to Rosell et al 32 Briefly, sections were deparaffinized, rehydrated, and treated with 0.3% pepsin for 10 minutes at 37 C, followed by heating to 105 C for 8 minutes. At this temperature, the sections were incubated with 100% formamide for 5 minutes and then prehybridized for 20 minutes by incubation with 0.1 or 0.3 nmol/ml of the CP or RFP, respectively.…”

“…20,28,30,37,42 Most of these viruses (CAV, BFDV, PiCV, GoCV, PCV2) affect lymphoid tissues and cause lymphoid atrophy, necrosis, and lymphocyte depletion, leading to immunosuppression and secondary infections. 37,42 Both primary (thymus, bone marrow, bursa of Fabricius) and secondary lymphoid tissues (lymph nodes, spleen, tonsil, bronchus-associated lymphoid tissue, gut-associated lymphoid tissue) may be affected, but the predilection site depends on the specific virus. 20,42 In most cases, the viruses can also be isolated from other organs and tissues such as lung, liver, blood, kidney, brain, heart, intestine, trachea, and skin and, for avian species, from crop, claws, beak, and feathers.…”