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1Department of Agriculture and Veterinary Science, Faculty of Encyclopedia, Institute for Humanities and Cultural Studies, Tehran, Iran
2Department of Clinical Sciences, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Karaj Islamic Azad University, Karaj, Iran
3Department of Poultry Diseases, Razi Vaccine and Serum Research Institute, Agricultural Research, Education, and Extension (AEREO), Karaj, Iran
4Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Tehran, Tehran, Iran
Marek's disease (MD) is an evolving disease that affects industrial poultry and backyard chickens and causes significant economic damage. Epidemiologically studying and continuous monitoring is vital to evaluate the progression and change of the MD virus and take appropriate action timely. In this study, after MD epidemiologic research on broilers, breeders, and layers of Iran, the prevalence of Marek’s disease virus (MDV) in backyard chickens of some provinces was investigated. This cross-sectional study was conducted from 2020 to 2021 in the villages located in five provinces of Mazandaran, Qazvin, Ilam, Khuzestan, and Markazi in Iran. DNA of the samples was extracted, then the prevalence of Marek’s disease virus serotypes and the presence of the gB gene were detected using the real-time PCR method. gB gene analysis was performed on MDV-1 samples collected of 50 villages and each village represented one epidemiologic unit. Fifteen epidemiologic units were positive for MDV serotypes, and the overall prevalence was recorded as 30%. The provinces with more industrial poultry farms (Markazi and Mazandaran) had shown the higher prevalence of Marek’s disease virus. Conclusively, MDV-1 is circulating in backyard chicken farms in Iran, and there is a need to properly plan for extensive training and vaccination.
Marek’s Disease, Backyard Chickens, gB Gene, Real-Time, Iran
Rima Morshed, Hossein Hosseini, Mohammad Hossein Fallah Mehrabadi, Naser Sadri, Zahra Ziafati Kafi, et al. (2023). Investigation on the Incidence of Marek’s Disease Virus in Backyard Chicken Flocks in Iran: Complete the Puzzle of Epidemiology of Marek Disease. International Journal of Animal Science and Technology, 7(2), 35-38. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijast.20230702.15
Copyright © 2023 Authors retain the copyright of this article.
This article is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
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