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The Transmission of Avian Visceral Lymphomatosis by Contact

( Regional Poultry Research Laboratory, Agricultural Research Administration, United States Department of Agriculture, East Lansing, Mich.)

1. Data were collected on the incidence of neural and visceral lymphomatosis and of osteopetrosis in 1,226 chickens inoculated with the filtrable agent of visceral lymphomatosis, 508 chickens in direct contact with inoculated sibs, and 687 isolated chickens.

2. The incidence of visceral lymphomatosis among inoculated groups varied from 33.8 to 95.0 per cent and osteopetrosis from zero to 60 per cent. In the various contact groups visceral lymphomatosis varied from 5.4 to 71.5 per cent. Osteopetrosis did not occur in any contact or isolated group and neural lymphomatosis was present to the extent of less than 3 per cent in any major group.

3. Of the four strains of lymphomatosis, RPL 12, 16, 18, and 20, only strain 12 gave significant contact transmission, and, even with this strain, it did not occur in all inoculations. The reasons for such variations were not determined.

4. High rates of contact transmission that occurred under experimental conditions were reduced to insignificant levels by confining inoculated and noninoculated lots to separate cubicles with solid walls but open tops.

5. Cubicle isolation to 60 days of age did not prevent all contact transmission, whereas cubicle isolation to 90 days in two other experiments resulted in no apparent contact transmission as measured by incidence of gross tumors to 300 days of age.

6. The extent of contact transmission in probits was found to have a direct linear relation to the exposure dosage when in terms of the logarithm of the percentage of the population inoculated.

7. Transmission results indicate that the causative agent of visceral lymphomatosis is different from that causing osteopetrosis and that causing neural lymphomatosis.

Received 7/30/53.