Infectious Bronchitis Hatchery Vaccination: Comparison between Traditional Spray Administration and a Newly Developed Gel Delivery System in Field Conditions.

Matteo Legnardi,Giovanni Franzo,Claudia Maria Tucciarone,Csanád Simon,János Molnár,András Gáspárdy,András Bersényi,Mattia Cecchinato,László Kőrösi,Henrik Baranyay,Tiede Bijlsma

doi:10.3390/vetsci8080145

Abstract

The control of infectious bronchitis (IB) is essential in intensive broiler production and is pursued through strict biosecurity and mass vaccination. Despite effective and routinely adopted, hatchery spray vaccination has been hypothesized to affect chicks’ body temperature and wellbeing. Recently, gel administration has been proposed as an alternative and proved feasible in experimental settings. In this study, IBV spray and gel vaccination methods were compared in field conditions. One hundred birds from the same hatch were enrolled in the study and vaccinated, half by spray and half by gel, with 793B and Mass vaccines. After vaccination, rectal temperature was measured and vaccine intake assessed. The two groups were housed for 35 days in separate pens and swabs and blood samples were collected at multiple time points for genotype-specific molecular analyses and serology, respectively. The temperature was significantly lower in spray-vaccinated chicks 10 min and an hour after administration. A similar trend in 793B titres was observed in both groups, while the Mass vaccine was detected later but persisted longer in gel-vaccinated chicks. No differences were observed in mean antibody titres. Compared to spray, gel administration appears equally effective and less impactful on body temperature, thus supporting its application for IBV vaccination.

Highlights

Avian coronavirus, the causative agent of infectious bronchitis (IB), is one of the most relevant and impactful pathogens to affect the poultry industry worldwide [1]
The aim of this study was to assess the applicability of IBV gel vaccination at the hatchery in typical field conditions, by comparing gel administration with a newly developed patented system to spray vaccination, considered as the reference method
1a), while gel droplets were visible on the group vaccinated blue-dyed solution (Figure 1a), while gel droplets were visible on the group vaccinated bybygel all gel-vaccinated gel-vaccinatedchicks chicksshowed showeda blue-tinged a blue-tinged tongue gel(Figure (Figure1b)

Summary

Introduction

The causative agent of infectious bronchitis (IB), is one of the most relevant and impactful pathogens to affect the poultry industry worldwide [1]. Interactions with other respiratory or immunosuppressive viral diseases have been documented [4]

Objectives

Methods

Results

Conclusion