Isolation and Molecular Characterization of Fowl Adenovirus and Avian Reovirus from Breeder Chickens in Japan in 2019-2021.

Abstract

Fowl adenoviruses (FAdVs) and avian reoviruses (ARVs) are ubiquitous in poultry farms and most of them are not pathogenic, yet often cause damage to chicks. A total of 104 chicken fecal samples were collected from 7 farms of breeder chickens (layers and broilers) in Japan from 2019 to 2021, and yielded 26 FAdV plus 14 ARV isolates. By sequencing, FAdV isolates were classified as FAdV-1, 5 and 8b. ARV isolates were classified as genotype II, IV and V. These results suggest that FAdVs and ARVs are resident in the breeder chicken farms in Japan.