VIOLIN: Vaccine Investigation and Online Information Network

Pathogen Page

Gallid herpesvirus 1

I. General Information

1. NCBI Taxonomy ID:

2. Disease:

Avian infectious laryngotracheitis, Fowl Laryngotracheitis

3. Introduction

Infectious laryngotracheitis (ILT) is a worldwide occurring respiratory disease of chickens, which is caused by a virus designated as ILTV or gallid herpesvirus 1 (GaHV-1). Infectious laryngotracheitis virus (ILTV) is an alphaherpesvirus that causes an economically important chicken disease, which results in delayed growth, reduced egg production, and also frequently in death of the animals. After acute infection of the upper respiratory tract, the virus can establish latency in the central nervous system, and subsequent reactivations can lead to infection of naive chickens. For prevention of ILT, conventionally attenuated live vaccines are available. The severity of clinical symptoms depends on the virulence of a particular strain or isolate, and mortality rates can vary between 0 and more than 70%. Symptoms of milder forms of ILT are nasal discharge, conjunctivitis and reduced egg production, whereas severe forms are additionally characterized by gasping, coughing, expectoration of bloody mucus, and marked dyspnoea which may lead to suffocation. Pathomorphological alterations can be observed in conjunctiva, larynx, trachea, and sometimes also in the lungs and air sacs (Fuchs et al., 2007).

4. Host Ranges and Animal Models

Like other avian herpesviruses, ILTV exhibits a very narrow host range both in vivo and in vitro. Besides domestic chickens, pheasants represent the only natural hosts. Furthermore, the virus could be isolated from peafowl, and experimental infections of turkeys have also been described (Fuchs et al., 2007).

5. Host Protective Immunity

ILTV infection of chickens frequently induces production of virus-neutralizing antibodies, but antibody titers correlate only poorly with protective immunity (Fuchs et al., 2007).

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