An emaciated wild turkey (Meleagris gallopavo) exhibiting neurologic signs was found on Ossabaw Island, Chatham County, Georgia (USA) on 11 April 1989. The neurologic abnormalities observed included ataxia, drooping wings, head tremors, torticollis, and circling. At necropsy, discrete yellowish-white nodules, varying in size from 2 to 5 mm, were present in the spleen. White nodular lesions approximately 2 mm in diameter were observed beneath the mucosal surface of the distal esophagus. Histopathologic examination of the splenic nodules disclosed large numbers of primitive lymphoreticular cells with leptochromatic nuclei and abundant, slightly basophilic cytoplasms. The mitotic index in these cells was moderate to high. Similar neoplastic cells composed the masses observed in the esophagus. Multifocal, mild perivascular cuffing with mononuclear cells was found in the lumbar spinal cord, brain, and brain stem. Reticuloendotheliosis virus, subtype 3, was isolated from samples of the spleen and liver.
How to translate text using browser tools
1 January 1992
Reticuloendotheliosis in a Wild Turkey (Meleagris gallopavo) from Coastal Georgia
L. E. Hayes,
K. A. Langheinrich,
R. L. Witter
Journal of Wildlife Diseases
Vol. 28 • No. 1
January 1992
Vol. 28 • No. 1
January 1992
avian lymphoproliferative disease
avian retrovirus
Meleagris gallopavo
reticuloendotheliosis
Reticuloendotheliosis virus
wild turkey