A csirkék mirigyesgyomor-elhalását okozó birnavírusa (Chicken Proventricular Necrosis Virus) okozta fertőzés első megállapítása pettyes fogasfürjben (Cyrtonyx montezumae)

Abstract

Background: The chicken proventricular necrosis virus (CPNV) is a recently identi- fied birnavirus proposed to be the cause of transmissible viral proventriculitis (TVP), an emerging disease primarily affecting broiler flocks. To the authors' knowledge, this is the first confirmed CPNV infection in Montezuma quail. Objectives: This study aims to highlight the potential role of other gallinaceous birds in spreading CPNV by presenting the post-mortem examination findings of a Montezuma quail. Materials and Methods: A 1.5-year-old Montezuma quail carcass underwent necropsy for diagnostic purposes. Tissue samples from the affected organs were fixed in formalin, embedded in paraffin wax, and stained for light microscopic examination. Routine bacteriological examination was conducted on the liver. RNA was extracted from the proventriculus and tested for CPNV using reverse transcriptase–polymerase chain reaction (RT–PCR). Additional (RT–)PCR tests were performed for other possible gastrointestinal viruses. The amplified product from the CPNV-positive RT–PCR case was purified for sequencing. Results and Discussion: Necropsy revealed greyish-white, ointment-like content on the proventricular mucosa; dilation of the cranial blind sac of the ventriculus, and a diffusely degenerated koilin layer in the ventriculus. Light microscopy showed scattered focal lymphoid aggregates in the proventricular glands; heterophilic infiltration, and Gram-positive bacteria in the mucosal glands of the ventriculus, along with mixed inflammatory cellular infiltration in the interstitium. No pathogenic bacteria were found in the liver with routine bacteriological examination. Of the nine viruses examined, only the RT–PCR test for CPNV nucleic acid was positive. Sequencing confirmed the virus strain matched those previously identified in domestic hens and pheasants in Hungary.