Effect of Age and Presence of Maternal Antibodies on Success of Avian Influenza and Newcastle Disease Vaccinations in Broiler

Abstract

Avian Influenza (AI) and Newcastle Disease (ND) are viral infections that attack poultry worldwide. AI outbreaks in Indonesia were first reported in 2003, which led to the death of millions of birds, while ND is an endemic disease. Vaccination control of these diseases has been carried out, but cases are still being reported in poultry. Therefore, this study aims to determine the effect of age and the presence of maternal antibodies on the success of vaccination using the AI H5N1 and the ND vaccine. It was conducted using a tiered randomized block design with 3 treatments group and 10 replicates. The tiered pattern of antibody examination was carried out at pre-vaccination, followed by 7, 14, and 21 days after vaccination. Furthermore, antibody measurements were carried out using the hemagglutination inhibition (HI) test. The results showed that age had no significant effect as demonstrated by P>0.05 on antibody titer after AI vaccination, given that the chickens at the time of vaccination had unprotected maternal antibodies. Meanwhile, age affected the ND antibody titers because the chickens with maternal protective antibodies at the time of vaccination showed lower ND antibody titers (P<0.05). AI vaccination in broilers without maternal antibodies showed a good response to antibody development, while protective maternal ND antibodies interfered with the formation of ND antibodies caused by vaccination. Based on the results, the age at vaccination and the presence of maternal antibodies greatly affects the antibody titers produced by the vaccine. Therefore, it is important to consider the timing of vaccination when maternal antibodies level decreased then vaccine should be administered to avoid neutralization.