Investigation on Incidence of Marek's Disease in Broiler Flocks of some Regions in Tehran Province, Iran

Marek's disease (MD) is a common lymphoproliferative disease of chickens, usually characterized bymononuclear cellular infiltration in different organs. The disease is caused by a herpes virus and istransmissible. MD has been a common, important problem for poultry industry worldwide, as well as, inour country, Iran. The aim of present study was to have an estimation of the incidence of MD in broilerflocks of some major regions of chicken rearing in Tehran province (Savojbolagh, Karaj, Shahriar andVaramin). This was implemented by 35 times visiting of some poultry slaughterhouses and thoroughlyinspection of chicken's carcasses and histopathological examination of various tissues and organs ofsuspected and normal slaughtered chickens from 80 broiler flocks, that was reared in Tehran province.Gross and microscopic examinations of chickens, in four mentioned regions, showed that 24 out of 80flocks (30%) had been infected to different forms of the disease. This result indicated that MD has a highincidence in broiler flocks of Tehran province. The incidence of cutaneous, visceral and mixed cutaneousand visceral forms in these regions (four regions) was determined as 16.2%, 3.8% and 10%, respectively.Moreover, no case of nervous and ocular forms was seen in this study. The result of the current study gives a hint for the importance and losses behind the high incidence of the MD in broiler flocks of Tehran province, Iran. Further detailed study on MD in broiler flocks and on the effectiveness of available MD vaccines in reducing the incidence and losses of the disease is recommended.