Pathogenesis of Abnormal Feathers in Chickens Inoculated with Reticuloendotheliosis Virus

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Abstract
Abnormal feathers, characterized by thinness, increased transparency of the calamus and rachis and loss of barbs, were induced at a high frequency by inoculating day-old chicks with reticuloendotheliosis virus (REV) propagated in chicken embryo fibroblasts (CEF). The few birds that survived inoculation with oncogenic stock of REV derived from liver tissue of an infected chick developed similar abnormalities. Lesions of an inflammatory-degenerative type were observed in close association with the presence of viral antigen and numerous C-type virus particles characteristic of REV in the intermediate and cylindrical cell layers of all abnormal feathers examined. These findings, first detected in the intermediate and cylindrical cell layers of developing feathers 6-9 days after infection, suggest that degeneration and necrosis of feather-forming cells result from productive infection of REV, causing the development of the abnormal feathers.