OIE Reference Laboratory Reports
Activities in 2012
Name of disease (or topic) for which you
are a designated OIE Reference
Laboratory:
Marek’s disease
Address of laboratory
The Pirbright Institute, Compton Laboratory,
Compton, Newbury, Berkshire RG20 7NN
Tel.:
+44 1635 578411
Fax:
+44 1635 577263
e-mail address:
animal.health@pirbright.ac.uk
website:
http://www.pirbright.ac.uk/
Name (including Title) of Head of
Laboratory (Responsible Official):
Prof John Fazakerley, Director, Pirbright Institute
Name (including Title and Position) of OIE
Reference Expert:
Prof Venugopal Nair
Date of submission to the OIE
Instructions
This form should be used by an OIE Reference Laboratory to report activities that took place from January
through December of the past year (2012), unless otherwise stated, and must be submitted by the end of
January every year.
Only those activities that concern the disease (or topic) for which the laboratory is recognised by the OIE
should be mentioned. The questionnaire structure follows the Terms of Reference (ToRs) for OIE Reference
Laboratories, available at:
http://www.oie.int/en/our-scientific-expertise/reference-laboratories/introduction/
Each ToR (blue italicised text) has been placed as a heading covering the group of questions related to it.
Please note the red italicised text is given as guidance and should be deleted from your report and substitute
with your data. Examples are based on past Annual Reports or have been invented.
The questionnaire represents a means of gathering information on activities carried out by OIE Reference
Laboratories and making it available to OIE Member Countries and to the OIE Reference Laboratory network.
This annual report will remain available for consultation on the OIE web site:
(http://www.oie.int/en/our-scientific-expertise/reference-laboratories/annual-reports/):
Annual reports of OIE Reference Centres, 2012
1
OIE RL for « Marek’s disease » – « Prof. Venugopal Nair » – « United Kingdom »
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
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
2.
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 interlaboratory 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 Pirbright Institute, Compton Laboratory, Compton is to
understand the molecular mechanisms of MD pathogenesis, with the aim of developing more effective
diagnostic tests and vaccines. Efficacy of recombinant MDV deleted in Meq and microRNAs as vaccines
against virulent challenge was demonstrated.
2
Annual reports of OIE Reference Centres, 2012
OIE RL for « Marek’s disease » – « Prof. Venugopal Nair » – « United Kingdom »
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 monitor the correlation between virus load and the protective index.
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. PI 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
The Pirbright Institute 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, Mauritius, Chile and France.
9.
Provision of scientific and technical training to personnel from other OIE Member
Countries
Ankur Saxena (India) for training in developing new microRNA-based vaccines
Nur Iwani (Malaysia) for training in polysome analysis in proteomics
Guo Guangjun (China) for molecular biology training in developing novel vaccines
Organised the annual Poultry Health course at the Institute in Feb-March 2012 attended by 12 delegates
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
Dr. Nair served as the Member of the Steering Committee for the 9th International Symposium on
Marek’s disease and Avian Herpesviruses, June 20-24, 2013 Berlin.
12. Participation in international scientific collaborative studies
A new 5-year research project on ‘Vaccines as drivers of disease emergence in Marek’s disease’ was
funded by BBSRC-NIH in collaboration with Prof. Andrew Read, Penn State University.
13. Publication and dissemination of information relevant to the work of OIE (including list of
scientific publications, internet publishing activities, presentations at international
conferences)

Presentations at international conferences and meetings

Dr. V Nair gave a talk on ‘Recent advances in Marek’s disease research’ at the Institute of
Infection and Global Health, University of Liverpool in January 2012
L. Petherbridge gave a talk on ‘Genetic Manipulation of MDV genomes for developing novel
recombinant vaccines’ at the 9th International Symposium on Marek’s disease and Avian
Herpesviruses, June 20-24, 2013 Berlin.

Annual reports of OIE Reference Laboratories, 2012
3
OIE RL for « Marek’s disease » – « Prof. Venugopal Nair » – « United Kingdom »








Scientific publications in peer-reviewed journals
o
William N. Mwangi, Lorraine P. Smith, Susan J. Baigent, Adrian L. Smith and Venugopal Nair
(2012). Induction of lymphomas by inoculation of Marek’s disease virus-derived lymphoblastoid cell
lines: Prevention by CVI988 vaccination. Avian Pathology, 41 (6):589-98.
Peter M Biggs and Venugopal Nair (2012). The long view: 40 years of Marek’s disease research and
Avian Pathology. Avian Pathology 41 (1): 3-9.
Andrew C. Brown, Venugopal Nair and Martin J. Allday (2012). Epigenetic regulation of the
latency-associated region of Marek's disease virus (MDV) in tumour-derived T-cell lines and primary
lymphoma. Journal of Virology 86 (3): 1683-95.
o
o

4
Dr. S. Baigent gave a talk on ‘Vaccination prolongs and enhances transmission of highly virulent
strains of MDV’ at the 9th International Symposium on Marek’s disease and Avian Herpesviruses,
June 20-24, 2013 Berlin.
Dr. Abdessamad Tahiri-Alaoui gave a talk on ‘Base pairing with 18S rRNA modulates capindependent translation of neurovirulence protein from herpesviruses’ at the 9th International
Symposium on Marek’s disease and Avian Herpesviruses, June 20-24, 2013 Berlin.
Dr. S. Baigent gave a talk on ‘Realtime PCR for differential quantification’at the 9th International
Symposium on Marek’s disease and Avian Herpesviruses, June 20-24, 2013 Berlin.
Dr. V Nair gave a talk on ‘microRNAs and cancer in animals’ at the Workshop on ‘MicroRNAs
and virus-associated cancers in May 2012 at Dubrovnik.
Dr. V Nair gave a talk on ‘Latency and tumorigenesis’ at the 9th International Symposium on
Marek’s disease and Avian Herpesviruses, June 20-24, 2013 Berlin.
Dr. V Nair gave a talk at the International Conference on One Health at Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
on MD oncogenesis in September 2012
Dr. V Nair gave a talk on ‘Marek’s disease’ at the Vaccinology course organized by the Jenner
Institute, Oxford in November 2012 at Oxford.
Other communications
Annual reports of OIE Reference Centres, 2012
OIE RL for « Marek’s disease » – « Prof. Venugopal Nair » – « United Kingdom »
ToR: To use, promote and disseminate diagnostic methods validated according to OIE
Standards
Not applicable
ToR: To develop reference material in accordance with OIE requirements, and implement
and promote the application of OIE Standards.
2.
Did your laboratory produce or store imported standard reference reagents officially recognised by
the OIE or other international bodies?
Yes
3.
Did your laboratory supply standard reference reagents to OIE Member Countries?
Yes
4.
No
Did your laboratory produce vaccines?
Yes
6.
No
Did your laboratory produce diagnostic reagents other than the OIE-approved standard reference
reagents?
Yes
5.
No
No
Did your laboratory supply vaccines to OIE Member Countries?
Yes
No
ToR: To develop, standardise and validate, according to OIE Standards, new procedures for
diagnosis and control of the designated pathogens or diseases
7.
Did your laboratory develop new diagnostic methods validated according to OIE Standards for the
designated pathogen or disease?
Yes
8.
No
Did your laboratory develop new vaccines according to OIE Standards for the designated pathogen
or disease?
Yes
No
ToR: To provide diagnostic testing facilities, and, where appropriate, scientific and
technical advice on disease control measures to OIE Member Countries
9.
Did your laboratory carry out diagnostic testing for other OIE Member Countries?
Yes
10.
No
Did your laboratory provide expert advice in technical consultancies on the request of an OIE
Member Country?
Yes
No
ToR: To carry out and/or coordinate scientific and technical studies in collaboration with
other laboratories, centres or organisations
Annual reports of OIE Reference Laboratories, 2012
5
OIE RL for « Marek’s disease » – « Prof. Venugopal Nair » – « United Kingdom »
11.
Did your laboratory participate in international scientific studies in collaboration with OIE Member
Countries other than the own?
Yes
No
ToR: To collect, process, analyse, publish and disseminate epizootiological data relevant to
the designated pathogens or diseases
12.
Did your Laboratory collect epizootiological data relevant to international disease control?
Yes
13.
No
Did your laboratory disseminate epizootiological data that had been processed and analysed?
Yes
14.
No
What method of dissemination of information is most often used by your laboratory?
(Indicate in the appropriate box the number by category)
a)
Articles published in peer-reviewed journals: ................. 3
b)
International conferences: .............................................. 9
c)
National conferences: ...................................................... 0
d)
Other: ............................................................................... internet
(See above)
ToR: To provide scientific and technical training for personnel from OIE Member Countries
To recommend the prescribed and alternative tests or vaccines as OIE Standards
15.
Did your laboratory provide scientific and technical training to laboratory personnel from other OIE
Member Countries?
x
Yes
No
a)
Technical visits: ................................................................ 3
b)
Seminars: .........................................................................
c)
Hands-on training courses: .............................................. 1
d)
Internships (>1 month): ................................................... 1
See the list attached above
ToR: To maintain a system of quality assurance, biosafety and biosecurity relevant for the
pathogen and the disease concerned
16.
Does your laboratory have a Quality Management System certified according to an International
Standard?
Yes
No
Quality management system adopted
Own Quality Management systems
6
Annual reports of OIE Reference Centres, 2012
OIE RL for « Marek’s disease » – « Prof. Venugopal Nair » – « United Kingdom »
17.
Is your laboratory accredited by an international accreditation body?
Yes
No
18. Does your laboratory maintain a “biorisk management system” for the pathogen and the disease
concerned? (See Manual of Diagnostic Tests and Vaccines for Terrestrial Animals 2012, Chapter 1.1.3 or
Manual of Diagnostic Tests for Aquatic Animals 2012, Chapter 1.1.1)
Yes
No
ToR: To organise and participate in scientific meetings on behalf of the OIE
19.
Did your laboratory organise scientific meetings on behalf of the OIE?
Yes
20.
No
Did your laboratory participate in scientific meetings on behalf of the OIE?
Yes
No
ToR: To establish and maintain a network with other OIE Reference Laboratories
designated for the same pathogen or disease and organise regular inter-laboratory
proficiency testing to ensure comparability of results
21.
Did your laboratory exchange information with other OIE Reference Laboratories designated for the
same pathogen or disease?
Yes
22.
Was your laboratory involved in maintaining a network with OIE Reference Laboratories designated
for the same pathogen or disease by organising or participating in proficiency tests?
Yes
23.
No
No
Did your laboratory collaborate with other OIE Reference Laboratories for the same disease
on scientific research projects for the diagnosis or control of the pathogen of interest?
Yes
No
ToR: To organise inter-laboratory proficiency testing with laboratories other than OIE
Reference Laboratories for the same pathogens and diseases to ensure equivalence of
results.
24.
Did your laboratory organise or participate in inter-laboratory proficiency tests with
laboratories other than OIE Reference Laboratories for the same disease?
Yes
No
ToR: To place expert consultants at the disposal of the OIE
25.
Did your laboratory place expert consultants at the disposal of the OIE?
Yes
Annual reports of OIE Reference Laboratories, 2012
No
7