Serological identification of subclinical chicken anemia virus in quails, in IsfahanRunning title: Chicken anemia virus in quails

Chicken anemia virus (CAV) is one of the immune-suppressive agents in the fowls. Although, fowls are the only natural host of this virus, there is some evidence that other avian species are susceptible to the virus or the virus can replicate in this bird. Therefore, considering the complications of inappropriate response to Newcastle disease vaccine, frequent bacterial contamination and inappropriate growth in quail farms; in this study, the epidemiological situation of CAV infection was investigated in quail farms by serological method. To this end, 150 serum samples from 15 quail farms in Isfahan were collected. After preparation, the CAV specific antibody was detected by one commercial CAV Elisa kit, and the Newcastle titer was tested by hemagglutination inhibition (HI) test. The results showed that 60% of the farms had at least one positive serum sample against the CAV that was evaluated from a total of 40% positive serum samples. In this study, although Newcastle vaccine was used in all farms, no prominent titer was detected at slaughter time. Therefore, it seems that CAV can also lead to immune suppression in quails in the subclinical form.