Viremic Responses of Genetically Susceptible and Resistant Chickens to Experimental Infection with Acute, Mild, or Both Strains of Marek's Disease Herpesvirus

The development and persistence of viremia were followed in two lines of Single-Comb White Leghorns: one experimental line (WSU-VS) highly susceptible, and one commercial line (C-WL) relatively resistant to Marek's disease(MD). In the resistant C-WL chicken, viremia with a mild strain of MD herpesvirus (MDHV) persisted in all viremic birds through 8 weeks postinoculation (PI), while viremia with an acute strain of MDHV did not, resulting in a decrease in number of viremic birds after 2 weeks PI. In the susceptible WSU-VS chicken, viremia with acute MDHV persisted in all viremic birds whereas viremia with mild MDHV was detected in a decreasing number of birds after 6 weeks PI. The pattern of viremia observed in the dually infected groups simulated a combination of the responses of the two groups respectively inoculated with mild and acute MDHV. Whether inoculation was with acute MDHV alone, or together with mild MDHV, levels of viremia with acute MDHV were appreciably higher in the WSU-VS than in the C-WL chicken. In both lines, levels of viremia were higher with acute MDHV than with mild MDHV but viremia with acute MDHV could not be demonstrated in the C-WL bird at 6-8 weeks PI. Levels of viremia with mild MDHV were consistently and similarly low in both WSU-VS and C-WL chickens.