Abstract

PEROZO, Francisco et al. Efficacy of a Recombinant Turkey Herpesvirus Expressing the Viral Protein 2 of the Gumboro Disease Virus Against an Experimental Challenge. Rev. cient. (Maracaibo) [online]. 2010, vol.20, n.2, pp.132-137. ISSN 0798-2259.

Early vaccination against infectious bursal disease virus (IBDV) is a common practice; however, the use of live attenuated vaccines may sometimes compromise the bursal integrity in young birds generating immunosupression and failures in vaccination programs. An alternative is the use of viral vectors for transgenic expression of immunogenic proteins that can provide adequate protection without the potential bursal damage. The objective of this work was to assess the protection against a classical strain challenge conferred by day-one vaccination using VAXXITEK^®, a recombinant herpesvirus of turkey expressing the immunogenic viral protein 2 from a classical IBDV. Specific pathogen free (SPF) one-day old birds were vaccinated by the subcutaneous route and challenged with the STC IBDV strain at 18 or 28 days of age. The protection criteria included: clinical signs, bursa/bodyweight ratio and bursal histopathology. No clinical signs or STC challenge related bursal lesions were observed in the VAXXITEK^® vaccinated birds at both early and late challenge. The bursal index was significantly lower in the unvaccinated challenged birds. These results indicate that single dose recombinant HVT-IBDV vaccination protects chickens against a classical strain challenge.

Keywords : Infectious bursal disease virus; HVT; protection.