Can Mareks autopsies be wrong?

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jucat60

jucat60

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I have about 45 chickens. I have a separate group of Plymouth Rock I had 5 young pullets 3 hens and 2 roosters. Two weeks ago one of my Plymouth Rock Pullets looked very unwell took her to vet who thought she had an injury she could feel her rib cage misaligned. The next day she died. Last week another one of the pullets started hobbling at times and standing alot not pecking, Went to another vet who thought it could be Mareks suggested that she be euthanized and have an autopsy. The result came back probable no bloods where taken that I know. There are no other chickens sick and the remaining 3 are really healthy. Could they have got it wrong?
 
Do you have a copy of the necropsy report?

What do you mean that the results came back probable?

You can have Marek's in your flock and have birds that have not yet shown signs of having the disease.
 
All I got was a call from a vet nurse that gave me that result over the phone as probable.I will have to go in and see if they sent a necropsy report. If I had bloods taken it would have cost more that was not given as an option to me.I live in Australia in a small country town do not know where the testing was done
 
I'm having the same problem. Marek's symptoms, but I've sent in 5 necropsies to UNL specifically to look for Marek's and they've come back negative. Even the vet is stumped on what's causing this. I don't know what else to do!
 
It is good that the tests have come back negative. How many chickens have you lost? So sorry for you it is just horrible
 
@jucat60
Unless they do tissue or blood testing they cannot say categorically that it is Marek's and to me, there is no point in paying to get a necropsy done if you don't get a definitive result from it. There is usually the option to authorise further testing within a set period, usually 28 days, so I would suggest you enquire with your vet about the cost of that testing and if you can afford it, then get it done. It is better to know what you are dealing with and at the moment you still cannot be sure. Or find out where the necropsy was done and get in touch with them direct to discuss it.
The other 3 chicks might be resistant to Marek's, or they might have been infected but not symptomatic yet, as it can lie dormant for weeks, months or years, or it may not be Marek's, but if your only doubt is because the other chicks are still healthy, then you may be kidding yourself, I'm afraid. I've had Marek's in my flock for 4 years and I've just had a 5 year old bird come down with it earlier this year for the first time..... I have a mild strain where the first outbreak doesn't necessarily kill them. She has fully recovered after months of wobbling.
 
As I understand it a necropodity for Marek's disease typically looks for the presence of tumors. When tumors are present then the diagnosis is positive (+) for Marek's disease. This is not an automatic cause of death although Marek's disease is incurable and is almost always fatal.

Even a blood test for Marek's disease specific antigens will only confirm the presence of tumors associated with the herpes virus that causes Marek's but this is still not a "CAUSE" of death.
 

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