Marek's disease in turkeys: The induction of lesions and the establishment of lymphoid cell lines

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Abstract
The inoculation of turkeys with large doses of a virulent strain of Marek's disease virus (GA strain), but not of two other virulent strains (HPRS‐16 and JM), was found to induce a disease resembling Marek's disease of the chicken. The most prominent lesions were lymphocytic leukaemia and lymphoid and reticular hyperplasia in the spleen and the liver. These developed after a prolonged latent period and the early histological changes (lymphoid cell destruction and reticuloendothelial cell hyperplasia) reported in chickens were not observed. Twelve cell lines were established from suspensions of spleen cells or of buffy coat cells from infected turkeys. These cells expressed both Marek's disease tumour‐associated surface antigen and T‐cell antigens. The cells carried the Marek's disease virus genome and when inoculated into chickens induced typical Marek's disease lym‐phomas. Nine of the cell lines were infected with an avian leukosis virus, but three lines were free of such infection. All cell lines had normal turkey karyotypes.
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