Marek's Disease is a highly contagious and widespread viral infection causing tumours and immunosuppression in chickens. It is caused by a type of herpes virus known as MDV – the Marek's Disease Virus. The disease is transmitted through the inhalation of feather dander (feather follicle cells) shed by infected birds. Although young birds are more likely to be infected, it can affect older birds as well. Once a chicken is exposed, they will carry the virus for life. There is no cure. It is important to note, however that not every bird will become sick. There are a number of different viral strains and the symptoms & severity of disease can vary depending on many factors, including the viral strain, the chicken's age, genetics and environment. The Marek's Disease Virus can attack various parts of the body and major organs. The most common form affects the nervous system causing paralysis, however the disease can also cause blindness (known as Occular Mareks), anemia and other complications from the growth of tumours. Diagnosis of Marek's Disease is routinely done in one of two ways; either an autopsy on deceased birds (including a tumour biopsy), or with a DNA PCR test. SunshinyMed’s PCR detection kits are highly suitable for testing live poultry. Only a small sample is required to obtain reliable diagnostic results. A positive result indicates that the chicken is infected with Marek’s disease virus and may be infectious.

Product Features

• Rapid: Results are available within 60 minutes.

• Convenient: Pre-mixed reagents are ready for aliquoting; simply add samples or controls with no additional processing steps required.

• Highly Adaptable: A wide range of kits can extract nucleic acids from various tissue, body fluid, blood, and excreta samples collected from live or dead animals for analysis.

• Easy to Use: Results can be readily interpreted based on Ct values.

• Flexible Compatibility: The kits are compatible with ABI 7500, Agilent MX3000P/3005P, LightCycler, Bio-Rad, Eppendorf, and other series of real-time fluorescent quantitative PCR instruments.

Note: For some products, the exogenous internal control is combined with the PCR Master Mix in a single tube.