Cutaneous changes associated with Marek's disease of chickens

Intranuclear inclusion bodies were observed in the leather follicle epithelium of chickens with Marek's disease (MD). These inclusions and associated cellular degenerations were shown to be part of the MD process by correlation of their occurrence with that of MD and by determination of their distributional dependence on the presence of the immunofluorescent (IF) antigen of MD. Inclusions and IF antigen appeared in the epithelial layers of the feather follicle, superficial to, but never in, the basal layer. The distributional relationship between cutaneous IF antigen and lymphoid aggregates, typical of MD, was studied; there was an apparent interaction between the aggregates and IF antigen.