A highly pathogenic Marek’s disease virus isolate from chickens immunized with a bivalent vaccine in China

Marek’s disease virus (MDV) is an important oncogenic poultry pathogen that can generally be controlled by vaccination. However, MDV infections still occur occasionally on vaccinated farms, possibly due to genetic variation among MDV strains or management-related issues. In this study, a novel MDV strain, designated LZ1309, was isolated from a poultry flock that had been vaccinated with the HVT and CVI988 vaccine strains. Animal experiments showed that LZ1309 infection led to high morbidity (100%) and mortality (90%). Moreover, existing vaccines provided only partial protection against LZ1309, with protection rates of 68.4%, 85%, and 90% for HVT, CVI988, and HVT plus CVI988, respectively. This study demonstrates the presence of a more virulent strain of MDV in vaccinated chickens in China that poses a new potential threat to poultry farms. In future studies, the development of new treatment strategies should be of high priority.