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Title: Investigating turkey enteric coronavirus circulating in the southeastern United States and Arkansas during 2012 and 2013

Author
item Day, James
item GONDER, ERIC - Butterball, Inc
item JENNINGS, SHANNON - Nash Johnson And Sons
item RIVES, DAVID - Prestage Farms
item ROBBINS, KABEL - Butterball, Inc
item TILLEY, BECKY - Butterball, Inc
item WOOMING, BRIAN - Cargill Corporation

Submitted to: Avian Diseases
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 2/14/2014
Publication Date: 2/10/2014
Citation: Day, J.M., Gonder, E., Jennings, S., Rives, D., Robbins, K., Tilley, B., Wooming, B. 2014. Investigating turkey enteric coronavirus circulating in the southeastern United States and Arkansas during 2012 and 2013. Avian Diseases. 58:313-317. DOI: 10.1637/10674-0923130ResNote.1.

Interpretive Summary: At the request of the poultry industry, our laboratory often conducts periodic monitoring of United States turkey flocks for suspected viral intestinal pathogens such as reovirus, rotavirus, parvovirus, and astrovirus. Beginning in early 2012, monitoring of commercial turkey flocks in the Southeastern United States revealed a sharp increase in the incidence of coronavirus (TCoV) positive flocks. Coronavirus is a pathogen that can cause intestinal disease in turkeys. Over the course of 2012, numerous observations of suspected turkey coronavirus were reported from multiple farms; many of these flocks experiencing intestinal disease were positive for TCoV. This report will focus on the subsequent analysis of the TCoVs isolates from North Carolina and Arkansas, and will correlate our data with observations from the field.

Technical Abstract: The use of molecular diagnostic assays has allowed ongoing periodic monitoring of United States turkey flocks for suspected viral enteric pathogens such as reovirus, rotavirus, parvovirus, and astrovirus. Beginning in early 2012, monitoring of commercial turkey flocks in the Southeastern United States and Arkansas via a real-time reverse-transcriptase polymerase chain reaction assay (RT-PCR) revealed a sharp increase in the number of turkey enteric coronavirus (TCoV) positive flocks. Over the course of 2012, numerous observations of suspected turkey coronavirus enteritis were reported from multiple integrators; many of these flocks experiencing enteric disease were positive for TCoV via the RT-PCR assay. This report will focus on the subsequent sequence analysis of the TCoV spike glycoprotein gene and the direct phylogenetic comparisons of TCoV isolates from North Carolina and Arkansas with historical isolates, and will analyze the molecular data along with observations from the field and serological data.