• Korean Journal of Veterinary Research
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• v.44 no.4
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• pp.539-549
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• 2004

Mean death time of inoculated embryonated egg is one of the methods to determine the virulence of the Newcastle disease viruses (NDV). Evaluation of tissue tropism of NDV in the host has been proposed as an another way to determine the pathogenicity of NDV based on the principal site of viral replication. To evaluate the tissue tropism among NDV, an immunohistochemistry(IHC) technique using monoclonal antibody was applied in one-day-old SPF chickens inoculated with different ND vaccine strains such as Ulster 2C, VG/GA and B1 viruses by eye drop instillation. The tissues used for this comparison were trachea, intestine, Harderian gland and cecal tonsil, which were collected at 0.5, 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 10, 14 days post inoculation. Among test groups, chickens inoculated with B1 viurs, which is known to replicate in the respiratory system, have IHC positive staining mainly in the trachea and those inoculated with Ulster 2C have IHC positive staining mainly in the intestine. However, chickens inoculated with VG/GA strain have IHC positive staining in both the trachea and intestine. Therefore, a differences in tissue tropism among ND vaccine strains has been proved by the IHC technique. Based on this results, the IHC staining technique could be used to classify the NDV or to study the pathogenesis of NDV in chickens.