OIE Reference Laboratory Reports
Activities in 2011
Name of disease (or topic) for
which you are a designated OIE
Reference Laboratory:
Address of laboratory:
Marek’s disease
Institute for Animal Health
Compton, Berkshire, RG20 7NN
UNITED KINGDOM
Tel.:
44 1635 578411
Fax:
44 1635 577356
e-mail address:
website:
Name (including Title and
Position) of Head of Laboratory
(Responsible Official):
Name(including Title and
Position) of OIE Reference
Expert:
Animal.health@bbsrc.ac.uk
http://www.iah.ac.uk/
Prof. John Fazakerley, Director, IAH
Prof. Venugopal Nair
Name (including Title and
Position) of writer of this report
(if different from above):
Annual reports of OIE Reference Centres, 2011
1
Marek’s disease
Part I: Summary of general activities related to the disease
The Reference Laboratory continued to provide technical guidance, reagents and training to personnel from different
countries on diagnosis and control of Marek’s disease.
1.
Test(s) in use/or available for the specified disease/topic at your laboratory
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Pathogenicity studies of Marek’s disease in different avian hosts
Serotyping of MDV 1, 2 & 3 isolates
Agar gel precipitation tests for antigen and antibody
PCR tests for detection of MDV as well as for quantitation of virus load
Quantitation of vaccine virus load in samples including the dust
In situ hybridisation tests for viral nucleic acid
Flow cytometry to identify the phenotype of infected cells
Fluorescent/confocal microscopy to detect virus/viral antigens
ELISA tests to detect antibodies.
Expression analysis viral transcripts and microRNAs
Production and distribution of diagnostic reagents
The diagnostic reagents are produced mostly for research purposes, but are usually available on request for
diagnostic purposes.
Part II: Activities specifically related to the mandate
of OIE Reference Laboratories
3.
International harmonisation and standardisation of methods for diagnostic testing or the
production and testing of vaccines
Not participated in any of these activities during the reporting period
a)
Establishment and maintenance of a network with other OIE Reference Laboratories
designated for the same pathogen or disease and organisation of regular inter-laboratory
proficiency testing to ensure comparability of results
Not participated in these activities
b)
Organisation of inter-laboratory proficiency testing with laboratories other than OIE
Reference Laboratories for the same pathogens and diseases to ensure equivalence of
results
Not participated in these activities
4.
Preparation and supply of international reference standards for diagnostic tests or vaccines
Provision of International Reference Standards for diagnostic tests and vaccines is not an activity of the
Laboratory. Field Samples including blood and feather samples were sent from different countries for the detection
of Marek’s disease virus either by PCR or by quantitative PCR for the accurate measurement of MDV genome
copy numbers.
5.
Research and development of new procedures for diagnosis and control
The main research focus of the group at the Institute for Animal Health, Compton is to understand the molecular
mechanisms of MD pathogenesis, with the aim of developing more effective diagnostic tests and vaccines.
Quantitative PCR tests for the accurate measurement of MDV genome copy numbers in the feather samples
developed by the group has been applied to field samples to measure the efficacy of the vaccination and also to
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Annual reports of OIE Reference Centres, 2011
Marek’s disease
monitor the correlation between virus load and the protective index. Efficacy of recombinant MDV deleted in Meq
and microRNAs as vaccines against virulent challenge was demonstrated.
6.
Collection, analysis and dissemination of epizootiological data relevant to international disease
control
Field samples sent for diagnosis from different parts of the UK and abroad were tested for MDV diagnosis. IAH
team visited India to participate in avian tumour diseases and to hold discussions with scientists and different
animal health professionals for ways of improving the control of the disease.
7.
Maintenance of a system of quality assurance, biosafety and biosecurity relevant to the
pathogen and the disease concerned
Institute for Animal Health maintains a standard quality assurance, biosafety and biosecurity level.
8.
Provision of consultant expertise to OIE or to OIE Member Countries
Continued to provide technical advice on different aspects of Marek’s disease control and diagnosis to personnel
from several countries including the UK, India, China, Poland, Mauritius, Chile and France. Contributed to the
OIE technical papers on diagnostic procedures for Marek’s disease.
9.
Provision of scientific and technical training to personnel from other OIE Member Countries
1.
Ms. Jennifer Labaille from the University of Tours France continued her research the laboratory for training
in the manipulation of the MDV genome for studying pathogenesis in Jan 2011.
2.
Maria Jamli from RVC successfully completed the project on ‘Effect of acyclovir on early mortality of
chicks infected with vv+MDV’ as part of the MSc-CIDA program
3.
Khalid Abdul Majeed from RVC successfully completed the project on ‘Protective efficacy of BAC-derived
Meq deleted RB-1B virus vaccine against Marek’s disease in chickens, following vaccination by the in ovo
route’ as part of the MSc-CIDA program.
4.
Participated in the Poultry Health course organised by the Institute for Animal Health during Feb-March
2011 to provide the lecture on Marek’s disease control. The course was attended by participants from several
countries.
5.
Prof. Nair gave a lecture on ‘Control of Marek’s disease by vaccination’ at the Human and Veterinary
Vaccinology Programme held during 23rd November 2011.
10. Provision of diagnostic testing facilities to other OIE Member Countries
A number of samples received from UK were tested for MDV by PCR, quantitative PCR or by virus isolation in
cell culture.
11. Organisation of international scientific meetings on behalf of OIE or other international bodies
Prof. V. Nair organised meeting at MRC Head Office, London, with French & German collaborators on EMIDA
project “Marek’s disease virus: in and out of cells”
12. Participation in international scientific collaborative studies
Collaboration in research on MD spread was continued with various leading laboratories in Europe, USA, India,
China and Australia. A new project with 5 collaborators in Europe Marek’s disease under the EMIDA initiative
started at IAH and other partnering Institutes.
Annual reports of OIE Reference Centres, 2011
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Marek’s disease
13. Publication and dissemination of information relevant to the work of OIE (including list of
scientific publications, internet publishing activities, presentations at international conferences)
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Presentations at international conferences and meetings
Prof. Bryan Cullen (Duke University Centre for Virology), “Viruses and microRNAs” on 23 August 2011 at
the Institute for Animal Health
Dr. S. Baigent and Prof. V. Nair organised / hosted ‘Poultry Diseases Group’ meeting at British Poultry
Council offices, London on 23rd May 2011
V Nair participated in the ‘International Symposium on Conservation and Propagation of Endangered species
of Birds, Abu Dhabi during 8-10 Feb 2011.
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Scientific publications in peer-reviewed journals
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Yongqing Li, Kolli Reddy, Scott M, Reid, William J, Cox, Ian H, Brown, Paul Britton, Venugopal Nair and
Munir Iqbal (2011) Recombinant herpesvirus of turkeys as a vector-based vaccine against highly pathogenic
H7N1 avian influenza and Marek's disease. Vaccine 29: 8257– 8266.
Jacqueline Smith, Jean-Remy Sadeyen, Ian R. Paton, Paul M. Hocking, Nigel Salmon, Mark Fife, Venugopal
Nair, David W. Burt and Pete Kaiser (2011). Systems analysis of immune responses in Marek’s disease virusinfected chickens identifies a gene involved in susceptibility and highlights a possible novel pathogenicity
mechanism. Journal of Virology 85: 11146–11158.
Yuguang Zhao, Lawrence Petherbridge, Lorraine P Smith, Yongxiu Yao, Hongtao Xu, Sue Baigent &
Venugopal Nair (2011). Critical role of a single virus-encoded microRNA in the induction of Marek’s disease
lymphomas. PLoS Pathogens 7 e1001305.
William Mwangi, Lorraine P. Smith, Susan Baigent, Richard K. Beal, Venugopal Nair and Adrian L. Smith
(2011). Clonal structure of rapid-onset MDV-driven CD4+ lymphomas and responding CD8+ T cells. PLoS
Pathogens 7 e1001337.
Spatz SJ, Smith LP, Baigent S, Petherbridge L, Nair V (2011). Genotypic characterization of two BAC clones
derived from a single DNA source of the very virulent gallid herpesvirus-2 strain C12/130. Journal of
General Virology 92 (7):1500-1507.
Lorraine P Smith, Lawrence J Petherbridge, Susan J Baigent, Jennifer Simpson and Venugopal Nair (2011).
Pathogenicity of a very virulent strain of Marek’s disease herpesvirus cloned as infectious bacterial artificial
chromosomes. Journal of Biomedicine and Biotechnology 412829, doi:10.1155/2011/412829.
Baigent, S.J., Smith, L.P., Petherbridge, L.J. & Nair, V (2011) Differential quantification of cloned CVI988
vaccine 1 strain and virulent RB-1B strain of Marek’s disease viruses in chicken tissues, using real-time PCR.
Research in Veterinary Science doi:10.1016/j.rvsc.2010.08.002.
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Annual reports of OIE Reference Centres, 2011