I was browsing through The Poultry Site when I came across an article about a new vaccine that might interest producers. The Pirbright Institute has developed a recombinant vaccine that uses a new viral vector which makes it effective against infectious bursal disease and Marek’s disease.

A good amount of poultry vaccines are composed of a modified herpesvirus of turkeys. HVT induces protection against diseases like IBD and Newcastle disease and Avian influenza. While they are effective when used alone, oftentimes they are unable to activate enough immune responses when they are combined with other vaccines against HVT that will protect the bird against multiple diseases.

The vaccine, developed by Professor Venu Nair, head of the Viral Oncogenesis group of Pirbright Institute and his team of researchers, uses a vaccine strain called Gallid herpesvirus 3 SB-1. They modified this licensed MD vaccine strain and inserted protective genes taken from the IBD virus and confirmed that the resulting virus could provide immunity against MD and IBD.

“This development allows us to engineer vaccines that target multiple diseases which complement existing commercial vaccines. The technique also offers scope for us to include other virus genes such as from avian influenza and Newcastle disease in the SB-1 vaccine, enabling us to protect against even more diseases in a single dose,” says Professor Venu Nair. For a more in-depth read, you will find the research in npj Vaccines. You will find a link to the article from The Poultry Site here.

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Trish Valenzuela, CPC/ PRC • Poultry Recruiter

Trish Valenzuela specializes in recruiting for poultry feed additive companies. She has filled positions in technical support, sales, and sales management across the USA.

Trish joined Continental Search in July 2015, and through hard study, she passed two certification programs. She is now a Certified Personnel Consultant (CPC) and a Professional Recruiting Consultant (PRC).

Visit her LinkedIn profile to connect with her and stay updated with current poultry trends. You can reach her at (302) 248-8242, through LinkedIn, or at trish@consearch.com.