A New Group of Oncogenic Viruses: Reticuloendotheliosis, Chick Syncytial, Duck Infectious Anemia, and Spleen Necrosis Viruses

Summary

Reticuloendotheliosis virus (REV) isolated from turkeys, duck infectious anemia virus (DIAV) and spleen necrosis virus (SNV) isolated from ducks, and chick syncytial virus (CSV) isolated from chickens are serologically indistinguishable in the fluorescent antibody test. The viruses that do not usually kill their host, namely, CSV, DIAV, and REV, produce resistance in ducks to subsequent challenge exposure to Plasmodium sp. In neutralization tests neutralization is stronger in the homologous than in the heterologous system. Thus these viruses are members of a group of viruses named the reticuloendotheliosis group. The viruses of this group differ morphologically from those of the leukosis/sarcoma group and they do not produce the latter's group-specific antigen. The SNV and some strains of REV are highly pathogenic for ducks and chickens, producing reticuloendotheliosis of the viscera, together with proliferative and infiltrative lymphoid nerve lesions in chickens. The DIAV and CSV were less pathogenic. Viruses of the reticuloendotheliosis group are generally poorly transmitted horizontally but more readily so in ducks than in chickens. In these experiments, flocks of turkeys, ducks, and geese, but not chickens, evidenced infection with viruses of this group.