Marek Disease Virus: molecular approach to the virus and host immune response

Abstract

Marek’s disease virus affects dramatically the production of broiler chicken,hens breeding and commercial due to lost causes for carcass condemnation,presence of tumors and high mortality. Give them us derivativesby the VEM they affect significant economic losses in the poultry industryworldwide and impact the comprehensive management of poultry healthand health in general. The genetic and molecular characteristics of theVEM highlight the diversity of the genome in each of the 3 serotypes of thevirus; genes involved in pathogenicity, evasion of the immune responseand replication strategies are consistent with the difficulty of their infectioncontrol. Viral latency and the pump of the immune response of thehost, particularly the control of type I interferons, are the mechanism tohelp the perpetuation in the poultry and thus hamper their effective environmentalcontrol. All those conditions have allowed that the virus evolvesto forms more virulent that with the use of the vaccines current does notprovide a protection adequate against these; for this reason, it is necessaryto reconsider current vaccination plans to improve the immune responseof active type, particularly involving cell type, to control his evasion andcontrol on the immune system.