 To recap, certain viruses commonly infect and cause a wide variety of cancers in chickens and turkeys destined for human consumption. They include the avian leucosis sarcoma viruses, reticuloendotheliosis viruses, and meric's disease virus. The avian leucosis sarcoma viruses and reticuloendotheliosis viruses are among the most potent cancer-causing agents known, and can induce cancer and poultry in a matter of days. This is what meric's disease looks like. You can see all the little tumors in the skin. It can also affect the chicken's eyes. What about people, though? Well, these viruses are found present in raw poultry products, including raw or inactically cooked poultry meat and eggs meant for human consumption, as well as vaccines grown in eggs. They cite a study in which researchers went looking for avian leucosis sarcoma virus, a carcinogenic retrovirus found in commercial eggs right off of supermarket shelves, and found 14%. 14% of egg samples from 20 randomly-chosen New Orleans retail stores tested positive for the virus. Thus, the general population is commonly exposed. It is therefore of great interest whether these agents also cause cancer in humans. We don't know for sure, but this large study provides evidence that a human group with high exposure to poultry oncogenic or cancer-causing viruses has increased risk of dying from several cancers. Beyond just poultry workers, with regards to the general population, the public health implication that the excess occurrence of some of these cancers in these workers may be associated with exposure to oncogenic viruses is not trivial.