Vaccination of Turkeys against Newcastle Disease

Abstract

Turkeys given primary vaccination with an inactivated Newcastle (ND) vaccine failed to respond satisfactorily in the serumvirus neutralization test and challenge of immunity via the respiratory tract. Revaccination did not effect a satisfactory anamnestic response. LaSota strain Newcastle disease virus (NDV), however, applied by eyedrop or in drinking water, stimulated excellent immunity by the same criteria. Response was unsatisfactory when LaSota NDV was given intramuscularly. Bl-strain NDV given by eyedrop or drinking water induced good immunity but of lower magnitude than from the LaSota strain. Cell-culture ND vaccine resulted in relatively poor protection from infection of the respiratory tract, and the virus-neutralizing antibody titers were relatively low or marginal. The potential use of lentogenic NDV strains in turkey vaccination programs was discussed.