THE PATHOGENESIS OF INFECTIOUS AVIAN ENCEPHALOMYELITIS

An association was demonstrated between the development of clinical infectious avian encephalomyelitis (IAE), the persistence and titre of infectious avian encephalomyelitis virus (IAEV) in the brain of the chicken, the duration of detectable viraemia and the age of the chicken at the time of infection with the virus. The older the chicken at the time of infection the milder the disease, the lower the virus titre in the brain and the shorter the period of viraemia. IAEV serum neutralising antibody was produced earlier after infection in older chickens, and its detection was associated with decreasing virus titres in the brain and the cessation of detectable viraemia. Treatment of chickens with testosterone in ova, to inhibit the development of antibody synthesis, prevented the onset of age-associated resistance and testosterone treated birds were as susceptible to clinical IAE as baby chickens. The results suggested that the ability to produce IAEV serum neutralising antibody was an important component of age-associated resistance to IAE.