avian & livestock assay data sheet
Infectious
laryngotracheitis (ILT) virus
Test code:
S0085
- Ultrasensitive qualitative detection of infectious
laryngotracheitis virus by real time polymerase chain
reaction.
NOTE: THIS TEST IS NOT PERFORMED
ON SAMPLES TAKEN FROM BIRDS OWNED OR LOCATED IN THE STATE OF
CALIFORNIA.
S0085 is included in the
poultry respiratory panel
Avian infectious laryngotracheitis (ILT) is a respiratory
disease caused by
Herpesviridae alphaherpesvirinae gallid herpesvirus 1, also known as infectious
laryngotracheitis virus. The virus mainly causes respiratory
disease in chickens, but it can also infect pheasants,
partridges and peafowl.
Clinically, ILT may appear in three forms:
peracute, subacute, and chronic or mild. In the peracute
form, onset of disease is very sudden and may spread among a
flock very quickly. Morbidity is high and mortality can exceed
50%. In the subacute form, the onset of illness is slower and
infected chickens may develop respiratory symptoms for several
days before dying. Morbidity is high but mortality is lower than
in the peracute form, between 10% and 30%. The chronic or mild
form of the disease has a much lower mortality rate, 1 to 2%,
with most affected birds dying of suffocation. However, the
birds with this chronic form of the disease may become carriers
and re-excrete the virus without clinical signs.
Diagnosis of this infection has been done by virus isolation or
serological neutralization techniques in the past. However,
molecular detection by PCR has been shown to be more sensitive
than other methods in identifying the virus (Alexander and Nagy,
1997; Williams, et al., 1994).
Utilities:
-
Help confirm the disease causing agent
-
Environmental monitoring
-
Help ensure that bird populations are free of ILTV
-
Early prevention of spread of this virus among bird
populations
-
Minimize human exposure to this virus
-
Safety monitoring of biological products and vaccines that
derive from birds
References:
Alexander,
H.S. and Nagy, E. (1997). Polymerase chain reaction to
detect infectious laryngotracheitis virus in conjunctival swabs
from experimentally infected chickens. Avian Dis.,
41: 646–653.
Williams, R.A., Savage, C.E. and Jones, R.C. (1994). A
comparison of direct electron microscopy, virus isolation and a
DNA amplification method for the detection of avian infectious
laryngotracheitis virus in field material. Avian Pathol.,
23: 709–720.
Specimen requirements: Tracheal swab, or
0.2 ml fresh, frozen or preserved tissue.
Contact Zoologix if advice is needed to determine an appropriate specimen type for a specific diagnostic application. For specimen types not listed here, please contact Zoologix to confirm specimen acceptability and shipping instructions.
For all specimen types, if there will be a delay in shipping, or
during very warm weather, refrigerate specimens until shipped
and ship with a cold pack unless more stringent shipping
requirements are specified. Frozen specimens should be shipped
so as to remain frozen in transit. See
shipping instructions for
more information.
Turnaround time: 2 business days
Methodology: Qualitative real time PCR
Normal range: Nondetected