Experimental infection with a persistent influenza C virus variant leads to prolonged genome detection in the chicken lung

A persistent variant of influenza C virus was used to infect chickens by intraamniotic (i.a.) inoculation. The infected hatchings were analyzed for virus production in different tissues and for the continuous presence of viral RNA genomes. The permissiveness for infection was demonstrated primarily for the chicken lung, besides other organs. Viral antigens could be detected by indirect immunofluorescence staining for a period of 8 days and reisolates were obtained mainly at early time points post infection (p.i.). Nested reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) directed to 3 genomic sequences was positive at least until day 53, whereby no distinct end point was determined. These experiments provide first evidence for the long-term stability of influenza C virus RNA segments in vivo.