March 6, 2018

Method for making new types of poultry vaccines developed

Researchers at the US National Poultry Research Center's Southeast Poultry Research Laboratory in Athens, Georgia, USA, have developed a method for making new types of vaccines for protection against two poultry diseases.

The new method involves introducing genes from other viruses into the infectious laryngotracheitis (ILT) virus, which causes an acute, highly contagious, herpesvirus infection of chickens characterized by severe dyspnea, coughing and rales.

This new method allows ILT virus to be much more easily manipulated and provides a platform for future vaccine development. The first effort to use this platform was to introduce genes from Newcastle disease virus into ILT virus to create a vaccine that protects against both diseases. Newcastle disease is a contagious viral fever affecting birds, especially poultry.

The researchers, led by Dr. Stephen Spatz, said the potential impact of the methodology invented, which will allow quick manipulation of the ILT virus in order to generate vaccine candidates against several poultry pathogens, will be of significant value to the poultry industry.

"This method is much faster and easier than classical molecular virology methods and does not introduce any marker genes into the new vaccine, which will allow much easier licensing of vaccine candidates", they added.