Prevalence of reoviruses in commercial chickens

The prevalence of reoviruses in commercial chickens with the runting/stunting syndrome, tenosynovitis, and normal chickens was investigated. Reoviruses were isolated from 3-week-old chickens affected with the runting/stunting syndrome and from older chickens with tenosynovitis; viruses were isolated from tissues with and without lesions. Reoviruses were also frequently isolated from rectal contents of normal 3-week-old chickens, and there was serological evidence of previous reovirus infection in all flocks of adult meat breeder chickens examined. The widespread occurrence of reoviruses in both normal and diseased chickens indicates that the isolation of reoviruses from tissues of chickens with lesions does not necessarily imply any aetiological relationship of reovirus with disease, even in the absence of other known causes. However, the occurrence of reovirus in normal chickens does not preclude an aetiological relationship with disease and further investigation of strain variation and possible virulence factors in avian reoviruses is required.