Similarity between Arthritis Virus and Fahey-Crawley Virus

Abstract

Fahey and Crawley (4) isolated a virus from cases of chronic respiratory disease (CRD) in chickens and demonstrated infectivity on the basis of virus-neutralization tests. Subramanyam and Pomeroy (11) inoculated the Fahey-Crawley virus into chickens that were 1 day, 3 weeks, and 6 weeks old and into 6-week-old turkeys, and demonstrated a mild respiratory disease, low neutralizing titers, and a viremia lasting 2-4 days. The virus was recovered from lung and trachea for 3-10 days postinoculation (PI). Petek et al. (9) examined the physicochemical properties of the FaheyCrawley agent and determined that it was a reovirus. Olson et al. (7) isolated a virus from cases of synovitis and differentiated the arthritis virus from Mycoplasma synoviae on the basis of physicochemical properties (6). Pathologic changes in chickens associated with viral arthritis infection were described by Kerr and Olson (5). Spontaneous occurrence of the disease in a broiler flock was reported by Olson and Solomon (8). Studies by Walker (12) and Rossi et al. (10) showed that this same viral arthritis agent was a reovirus.