Lympoid Tumour Disease

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Reticuloendotheliosis or Lympoid Tumour Disease is a retrovirus infection common in chickens, turkeys, ducks, geese and quail with morbidity rates reaching up to 25%. A gradual increase in death-rate and poor growth in broilers may be the first indicators of this sickness.

What causes Reticuloendotheliosis

Transmission is lateral and possibly transovarian, and the infection can be spread by mosquitoes or in contaminated Marek’s disease vaccines. There is an incubation period of 5-15 days.

Symptoms

• Diarrhoea.
• Leg weakness.
• Marked stunting when Marek’s disease vaccine is contaminated.

Post-Mortem Lesions

• Neoplastic lesions in liver, spleen and kidney.
• Sometimes nodules in intestine and caecae.
• Sometimes enteritis and proventriculitis (especially in broilers infected with contaminated Marek’s disease vaccine).

Prevention

Formal control programmes have not been documented as the condition is sporadic and relatively self-limiting. Avoidance of contamination of live vaccines is the main control measure practised.