Abstract: The infection model of avian reovirus in chicken was established, which layed the ground for vaccine efficacy test.The 49-day-old chickens were inoculated with 10^2.0, 10^3.0, 10^3.5, 10^4.5and 10^5.5 ELD₅₀/0.2 mL of two strains of ARV, T98 and AV2311, respectively, in foot pad inoculation method. Clinical signs were observed ten days and recorded daily. 6 days after inoculation, serum samples were taken. 10 days after inoculation, chickens were sacrificed for necropsy. Serum antibody was detected by ELISA. The results indicated that the morbidity of 10^5.5and 10^4.5 ELD₅₀/0.2 mL were 100%, and the foot pads of chicken were swelled severely, which were dark red or purple. Symptoms of AV2311 set was a bit lighter than that of T98 strain. The morbidity of 10^3.5 ELD₅₀/0.2 mL was 90% and the morbidity of 10^3.0and 10^2.0 ELD₅₀/0.2 mL were 80%. The ELISA result indicated that only the serum efficacy of 10^4.5and 10^5.5 ELD₅₀/0.2 mL set of two strains of ARV were positive.The experiment proved that the virulence of ARV T98 strain was strong, and had good immunogenicity. The best inoculated dose of ARV T98 strain was 10^4.0 ELD₅₀/0.2 mL, which provided the important basis for researching the quality standard of chicken viral arthrilis vaccine.

Key words: avian reovirus; animal infection model; swell; limp