The preparation of chicken tracheal organ cultures for virus isolation, propagation, and titration.

Chicken tracheal organ cultures (TOCs), comprising transverse sections of chick embryo trachea with beating cilia, have proved useful in the isolation of several respiratory viruses and as a viral assay system, using ciliostasis as the criterion for infection. A simple technique for the preparation of chicken tracheal organ cultures in glass test tubes, in which virus growth and ciliostasis can be readily observed, is described.