Horizontal transmission of turkey herpesvirus to chickens. IV. Viral maturation in the feather follicle epithelium.

An experimental line of White Leghorns (WSU-VS) and a commerical line inoculated with turkey herpesvirus (HVT) at 1 or 8 weeks old did not differ in the occurrence of infectious cell-free HVT in their feather-tip preparations (FT-HVT). The birds examined at 2 weeks postinoculation (PI) were always positive for FT-HVT regardless of age at virus inoculation, dose of HVT inoculated, or genetic line of chickens, whereas only a few were positive at 4 weeks and none at 6 weeks PI.