Marek's disease (MD) is a major disease of chickens induced by Marek's disease virus (MDV) associated to lethal lymphomas. Current MD vaccines protect against lymphomas, but fail to prevent infection and shedding. The control of MDV shedding is crucial in order to eradicate this highly contagious virus. Like pathogenic MDV, MD vaccines infect the feather follicles of the skin before being shed into the environment. MD vaccines constitute excellent models to study virus interaction with feathers, the unique excretion source of these viruses. Herein we studied the viral persistence in feathers of a MD vaccine, the recombinant turkey herpesvirus (rHVT-ND). We report that most of the birds showed a persistent HVT infection of feathers over 41 weeks with moderate viral loads. Interestingly, 20% of the birds were identified as low HVT producers, among which six birds cleared the infection. Indeed, after week 14-26, these birds named controllers had undetectable HVT DNA in their feathers through week 41. All vaccinated birds developed antibodies to NDV, which lasted until week 41 in 95% of the birds, including the controllers. No correlation was found between HVT loads in feathers and NDV antibody titers over time. Interestingly, no HVT DNA was detected in the spleens of four controllers. This is the first description of chickens that durably cleared MD vaccine infection of feathers suggesting that control of Mardivirus shedding is achievable by the host.

中文翻译：

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鸡可以持久清除羽毛中的疱疹病毒疫苗感染，同时仍携带疫苗诱导的抗体。

马立克氏病（MD）是与致命淋巴瘤相关的马立克氏病病毒（MDV）诱发的鸡的主要疾病。当前的MD疫苗可预防淋巴瘤，但不能预防感染和脱落。为了根除这种具有高度传染性的病毒，控制MDV脱落至关重要。像致病性MDV一样，MD疫苗在掉入环境之前会先感染皮肤的毛囊。MD疫苗是研究病毒与羽毛相互作用的极佳模型，羽毛是这些病毒的独特排泄源。本文中，我们研究了MD疫苗（重组火鸡疱疹病毒（rHVT-ND））在羽毛中的病毒持久性。我们报告大多数鸟类在41周内表现出持续的羽毛HVT感染，并伴有中等病毒载量。有趣的是，有20％的鸟类被确定为低HVT生产者，其中六只鸟清除了感染。确实，在第14-26周后，直到第41周，这些被称为控制者的鸟的羽毛中均未检测到HVT DNA。所有接种疫苗的鸟均产生了抗NDV的抗体，其中包括控制者在内的95％的鸟均持续到第41周。随时间推移，羽毛中的HVT负荷与NDV抗体滴度之间没有相关性。有趣的是，在四个控制者的脾脏中未检测到HVT DNA。这是对鸡的MD疫苗持久清除羽毛的首次描述，表明宿主可以实现对狂欢节病毒脱落的控制。在包括控制者在内的95％的鸟类中，这种情况一直持续到第41周。随时间推移，羽毛中的HVT负荷与NDV抗体滴度之间没有相关性。有趣的是，在四个控制者的脾脏中未检测到HVT DNA。这是对鸡的MD疫苗持久清除羽毛的首次描述，表明宿主可以实现对狂欢节病毒脱落的控制。在包括控制者在内的95％的鸟类中，这种情况一直持续到第41周。随时间推移，羽毛中的HVT负荷与NDV抗体滴度之间没有相关性。有趣的是，在四个控制者的脾脏中未检测到HVT DNA。这是对鸡的MD疫苗持久清除羽毛的首次描述，表明宿主可以实现对狂欢节病毒脱落的控制。