title: Evaluation of broiler breeder pullet vaccination programs for preventing clinical reovirus infections in the progeny.
abstract: The efficacy of various reovirus vaccination programs in commercial broiler breeder pullets for preventing clinical reovirus infections in broiler progeny was studied in three experiments. In each, 70 1-day-old broilers from each of four different commercial poultry companies that used various combinations of live and killed reovirus vaccines in breeder pullets were used. Broiler progeny from each company were bled and serum analyzed for neutralization antibody to the S1133 reovirus. Twenty chicks from each company were challenged by foot pad with a virulent reovirus (S1133) and 20 chicks challenged with another reovirus (81-B) isolate to determine their susceptibility. An additional 20 chicks from each of the four groups were maintained as unchallenged controls. Chicks were examined for morbidity, mortality, and weight gain for a 3-week period. Three weeks after challenge, all chickens were necropsied for gross lesions. There was a direct correlation between the number of doses of live inactivated reovirus vaccines that pullets received to antibody titer and resistance to challenge in the day-old progeny. Day-old progeny derived from breeder pullets that received one dose of live and two doses of inactivated reovirus vaccines had the highest numerical maternal antibody titer and best resistance to clinical infection following challenge.
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002645:Chickens / Q000276:immunology*; D005260:Female; D011201:Poultry Diseases / Q000382:microbiology / Q000517:prevention & control*; D012088:Reoviridae Infections / Q000517:prevention & control / Q000635:transmission / Q000662:veterinary*; D014611:Vaccination / Q000662:veterinary*; D014765:Viral Vaccines / Q000008:administration & dosage
chemical_list: D014765:Viral Vaccines