Molecular detection and genetic characterization of infectious laryngotracheitis virus in poultry in Myanmar

• Published in: BMC veterinary research 2020-11, Vol.16 (1), p.453-453, Article 453
• Main Authors: Yang, Zhiyuan, Murata, Shiro, Fujisawa, Sotaro, Takehara, Masaki, Katakura, Ken, Hmoon, Myint Myint, Win, Shwe Yee, Bawm, Saw, Konnai, Satoru, Ohashi, Kazuhiko
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Animals; Avian laryngotracheitis; Chickens; Diagnosis; Disease; Diseases; Epidemiology; Farms; Female; Gene expression; Genetic analysis; Genetic aspects; Glycoprotein B; Herpes; Herpesviridae Infections - epidemiology; Herpesviridae Infections - veterinary; Herpesvirus 1, Gallid - genetics; Herpesvirus 1, Gallid - isolation & purification; Herpesvirus diseases; Infections; Influenza; Laryngotracheitis; Molecular diagnostic techniques; Mortality; Mutation; Myanmar - epidemiology; Phylogenetics; Phylogeny; Polymerase chain reaction; Polymerase Chain Reaction - veterinary; Poultry; Poultry Diseases - epidemiology; Poultry Diseases - virology; Poultry farming; Respiratory diseases; Sequence analysis; Strains (organisms); Thymidine; Thymidine kinase; Vaccines; Viral diseases; Virulence; Viruses
• ISSN: 1746-6148; 1746-6148
• DOI: 10.1186/s12917-020-02666-z

Avian infectious laryngotracheitis (ILT) is a highly contagious viral disease that causes severe economic losses to the poultry industry worldwide. In Southeast Asian countries, including Myanmar, poultry farming is a major industry. Although it is known that infectious respiratory pathogens, including infectious laryngotracheitis virus (ILTV), are a major threat to poultry farms, there are no data currently available on the epidemiology of ILTV in Myanmar. Therefore, in this study, we conducted a molecular detection of ILTV in 20 poultry farms in Myanmar. Of the 57 tested oropharyngeal swabs, 10 were positive for ILTV by polymerase chain reaction of a 647 bp region of the thymidine kinase (TK) gene, giving a prevalence of ILTV of 17.5% (10/57). Further sequencing analysis of infected cell protein 4 (ICP4) gene and glycoprotein B, G, and J (gB, gG, and gJ) genes indicated that these isolates were field strains. Phylogenetic analysis revealed that the Myanmar strains clustered together in a single branch and were closely related to other reference strains isolated from Asian countries. This study demonstrated the presence of ILTV in poultry farms in Myanmar. The genetic characterization analysis performed provides the fundamental data for epidemiological studies that monitor circulating strains of ILTV in Myanmar.