[Morphological studies of the virus etiology of hepatosplenitis infectiosa strigum]

Haemorrhagic enteritis associated with herpesvirus in storks

Herpesvirus infection was diagnosed histologically and electron microscopically in white storks (Ciconia ciconia) and abdim storks (Ciconia abdimi). The consistent lesions of herpesvirus infection were haemorrhagic enteritis, with a slight mononuclear cellular infiltrate, dilatation of the crypts lined by a flat epithelium, necrotic foci in the spleen, and focal or scattered coagulative necrosis in the liver without cellular reaction. Intranuclear inclusion bodies were observed in epithelial cells, endothelial cells, lymphocytes, macrophages/monocytes, fibroblasts and smooth muscle cells in digestive tract, spleen, liver, ovary, oviduct and lung. Ultrastructurally, characteristic herpesvirus replication sites were observed in the nuclei of infected cells, with clusters of intracytoplasmic virions and associated structures, intranuclear tubular structures and filamentous aggregates.

Herpesvirus strigis, a new avian herpesvirus. II. Biochemical and biophysical properties

A virus (HSIS) originating from dead owls was successfully cultivated in chicken embryo fibroblasts. Its replication was inhibited by IUDR. Tissue cultured virus proved sensitive to ether, chloroform, 0.5 per cent trypsin, and to pH levels of 4.0 or lower. Infectivity was rapidly destroyed at 56° C. Negatively stained naked virions of 100 nm average diameter were seen, and enveloped virions with 160–250 nm size. The capsid was built up of hollow cyclindrical capsomeres, arranged in equilateral triangles, carrying 5 capsomeres along each edge. Cubical symmetry and icosahedron structure yielded a total number of 162 capsomeres. All these biochemical and biophysical data lead to classification of HSIS virus into the genus herpesvirus. Biological properties described in a foregoing paper sustained such grouping, and indicated that the agent was a new avian herpesvirus for which the nameherpesvirus strigis was proposed.