Immune-response research could yield new IB strategies for poultry
Research into the immune response of chickens could help lead to strategies that enable chickens to resist infectious bronchitis (IB), Rodrigo Gallardo, DVM, PhD, professor, University of California – Davis, told Poultry Health Today.
Investigators at the university have focused on the link between the innate and the adaptive immune response of chickens and have identified components that affect resistance.
The innate immune system consists of cells and proteins that are always present and ready to mobilize and fight microbes, while the adaptive immune response system is called into action against pathogens able to evade or overcome innate immune defenses, Gallardo explained.
The investigators are now applying what they’ve learned about resistance to the development of IB-control strategies, which might ultimately include different ways of vaccinating with the same products now available or the addition of different vaccine adjuvants, he said.
Although the research is currently focused on IB, it’s possible the results of the research might also lead to methods of enabling chickens to resist other types of respiratory infections in addition to IB, Gallardo noted.
Posted on November 14, 2017
