Isolation and PCR identification of 12 strains of inclusion body hepatitis virus from clinical broilers.

The 12 virus strains isolated originally from livers of broiler chickens with inclusion body hepatitis were characterized during chicken embryo kidney(CEK)cell culture.12 isolates of fowl adenovirus groupⅠ were identified based on virus morphology,cytopathogenic effect(CPE)and sequence analysis.The virus particles were non-enveloped,from 70 to 80nm in diameter,and had icosahedrad.Different affections could be observed in embryo eggs during different periods.The virus caused CPE in CEK cells.An avian adenovirus-specific polymerase chain reaction(PCR)was developed.The primers were from the conserved hexon sequence data of the chicken embryo lethal orphan(CELO)avian adenovirus.An avian adenovirus-specific 508bp product was amplified by these primers from hexon.These results confirmed that the 12 isolates were members of chicken inclusion body hepatitis caused by fowl adenovirus groups.The inclusion body hepatitis specific PCR assay was sensitive,specific,rapid and simple,which would be useful for the clinical diagnosis of inclusion body hepatitis virus infection.