Not an Emergency...Marek's in the Flock

[seminolewind]

Quote:
Good explanation. Oversimplification is a good thing; helps more people understand what's happening!

 

[tridentk9]

Mareks in the first one, the other two chickens went to the lab a week later  .  Vet said  "no evidence of mareks", and other than the plasma infiltrate in the eyes of the hen, which I had assumed was mareks, there was just

Sigh. Plasma infiltrates in the eye can be a sign of MDV's beginning stages.

Marek's Disease Virus Infection in the Eye: Chronological Study of the Lesions, Virus Replication, and Vaccine-Induced Protection

Marek's disease virus (MDV) infection in the eye was studied chronologically after inoculating 1-day-old chickens with a very virulent MDV strain, Md5. The ocular lesions could be classified as early lesions (6–11 days postinoculation [dpi]) and late lesions (26 and 56 dpi), based upon the location and severity of the lesions. The early lesions involved iris, ciliary body, and choroid layer, and were characterized by endothelial cell hypertrophy, vasculitis, and infiltration of lymphocytes (mainly CD8+), plasma cells, macrophages, and heterophils. Expression of early MDV-antigen pp38 in the cells infiltrating choroid layer was detected as early as 11 dpi.

http://www.aaapjournals.info/doi/full/10.1637/8284-031308-Reg.1

 

[lalaland]

Ahhhhh, why do I live in a grey world when I so want it to be black and white? drives me crazy - this back and forth about whether its mareks or not. Trident, I'm not complaining about your post, I am just frustrated because it is soo unclear to me, and I have such limited knowledge in this area.


vet's cover email that had the final report attached: The hen with the slightly irregular iris (eyes) has a mild
inflammation (plasma cells), but this is not consistent with Marek's
disease and is, in fact, a relatively common findings in normal,
healthy chickens. There was no evidence of Marek's disease in the hen
and rooster that you submitted two weeks ago.

I emailed and asked: What causes mild inflammation in the eyes?

Vet's answer: The inflammation is a normal process; plasma cells are immune cells that can reside at that site. Technically it is inflammation, but better described as normal in some birds.


In the end, I guess it makes no difference if she had mareks or not.....although I have eye changes in at least one other hen.

 

[seminolewind]

Lalaland, I've had 3 necropsies negative for Marek's on chickens 4-6 years old. So I guess I wonder how many pathologists go no further than "no tumors noted". What happens to those chickens that have been exposed and don't grow tumors? Maybe they feel that no tumors means no Marek's. Sheesh.

 

[mightymax]

Well maybe we should send them a copy of my descriptive post on tumors then...

 

[mightymax]

Today I found my currently most symptomatic little chicken, Pear-Pear, nestled down in some fallen leaves the color of liquid amber. With her eyes closed tight, she soaked in
those last few precious rays of a late afternoon sun that all too soon would turn into night, and I wondered...why does the caged bird sing...???

-kim-

 

[jgoldy2]

Today I found my currently most symptomatic little chicken, Pear-Pear, nestled down in some fallen leaves the color of liquid amber. With her eyes closed tight, she soaked in
those last few precious rays of a late afternoon sun that all too soon would turn into night, and I wondered...why does the caged bird sing...???

-kim-

Kim,
Sorry to hear that, I hpe that she gets better

 

[lalaland]

kim, it might be my mood but your post was beautiful and haunting.

 

[seminolewind]

I read something that made me think, and maybe it's why there's so little about Marek's . The commercial producers do not have a Marek's problem anymore. They all vaccinate and hygiene-ate all their chicks.

I guess we as backyarders or small flocks may not amount to a population that makes ripples as big as a large company would.

I've also recognized that Engormix has a lot of information and seems to be very involved with poultry in that category.

http://en.engormix.com/MA-poultry-industry/professionals/p0.htm

 

[mightymax]

@seminolewind ...
@jgoldy2 ...
@lalaland...
...THANK YOU ALL for your heart felt sentiments. I knew you'd understand !!!

She's no better today than she has been, yet none the worse either, so I'm...I'm...(what...what am I doing)...keeping my fingers crossed ??? For what exactly ??? For a cure that's not going to come in time to save her? For a few more weeks with her so that I can watch her dwindle away even more? No. I do not think so. I try to spend the majority of my time in a little place I like to call 'reality', so I actually won't be crossing my fingers at all...it's just too hard to hold her and love her with my fingers all twisted up like that...

Good Night John Boy...

-kim-


P.S. seminolewind...what were you reading that led you to believe that the commercial producers no longer have a Marek's problem? Seems to me that if their strength (their PAC's, their enormous sums of money, etc) is even half as strong as we give them credit for...what makes you think they'd tell us if they did...???

Just some food for thought!

Man, I just love feeding the fish in our tank !!!