Infectious bronchitis virus (IBV) is a highly contagious viral disease of Family Coronaviridae. The current study reports the molecular and histopathological investigation of IBV strains emerged in outbreaks in the Nile Delta of Egypt. Tissue specimens from thirty-six chicken flocks were subjected to virus isolation, histopathology and PCR. Twenty-three isolates were confirmed as IBVs based on the amplification of the highly conserved nucleocapsid (N) gene. Further characterization of five selected isolates was done by amplification of the (S1) glycoprotein gene. Phylogenetic analysis revealed that the isolated strains were clustered into three distinct groups within the variant II clade. Alignment of S1gene amino acid sequences showed significant amino acid substitutions in relation to the currently used vaccinal strains which displays that new IBV variants which are evolutionarily distant from vaccinal strains are still emerging within the Egyptian chicken flocks and are mostly associated with acute tubular nephrosis syndrome.

To Cite This Article: Magouz A, Abdo W, Abdelsabour A, Elbestawy A and Desouky A, 2018. Molecular and histopathological investigation of avian infectious bronchitis virus in the delta of egypt between 2016 and 2017. Pak Vet J, 38(3): 243-248. http://dx.doi.org/10.29261/pakvetj/2018.059