Meningoencephalitis in Turkeys Experimentally Infected with Ornithosis

Abstract

The gross and microscopic lesions of turkey ornithosis have been studied by several investigators and are well documented (1,2,5). Organs in which microscopic lesions have been described include the lungs, airsacs, pericardium, peritoneum, heart, liver, spleen, and testes. Lesions have not been reported in previous studies of the central nervous system of turkeys experimentally infected with ornithosis (1,3). The first indication of meningeal infection by ornithosis (psittacosis) virus was a report in 1954 of a case of human psittacosis. The interpretation of the etiology of the lesion was based on the demonstration of typical elementary (LevinthalCole-Lillie) bodies in the cytoplasm of a macrophage in the meningeal exudate (8). An ornithosis agent has recently been reported as the cause of a spontaneous meningoencephalitis in young chickens (7). This disease was reproduced by intraperitoneal injection of the virus into chicks. This is a report of the lesions found in the central nervous system of adult turkeys experimentally infected with a virulent strain of ornithosis virus. These turkeys were also the subject of a previous report on experimental transmission of ornithosis (6).