Early pathogenesis in chicks of infecciön with a trypsin-sensitive avian reovirus

Abstract

Experiments are described which show how the sensitivity to trypsin of avian reovirus strain TR1 restricts its replication in the intestine of the chicken in comparison with a trypsin-resistant strain R2. Following oral infecciön with a high dose (5.3 log10TCID50), the trypsin-sensitive virus generally showed lower titres than the resistant one in all tissues examined. infecciön of chicks with strain TR1 via the respiratory route enabled the virus to spread throughout the body and localize in the hock joint, an important target site for reoviruses. Trypsin-sensitive reoviruses might be transmitted via the respiratory route, even though TR1 caused little damage to the respiratory epithelium. Dose-response studies showed that TR1 injected via the footpad can localize in the hock joint after very low doses, but high oral doses (4–5 log10) are necessary for such localization. Intranasal infecciön was intermediate in effect. © 1994, Taylor & Francis Group, LLC. All rights reserved.