Field safety and efficacy of a unique live virus vaccine for controlling avian encephalomyelitis and fowlpox in poultry

BACKGROUND AND AIM: Infection of commercial poultry with avian encephalomyelitis (AE) and fowlpox (FP) virus causes heavy economic loss in endemic areas. Although vaccines are routinely used to control these two diseases, the problem still persists almost all over the world. This study aimed to evaluate safety and efficacy of a unique AE + FP + pigeon pox (PP) live virus vaccine in layer-type chickens under both laboratory and field conditions. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The study was conducted using 289 specific-pathogen-free (SPF) chickens under the laboratory conditions and 185,648 commercial layer-type chickens under field conditions. In two consecutive laboratory trials, 8-week-old SPF chickens were vaccinated with the AE + FP + PP live virus vaccine through wing web route and challenged against virulent strains of FP and AE viruses at 3-week post-vaccination (WPV). Challenged chickens were observed for disease protection for 10-21 days. For field safety trials, commercial layer-type chickens in three different geographical areas in the USA were vaccinated with the AE + FP + PP vaccine and observed daily up to 21 days for vaccine “take,” adverse reactions, and mortality. RESULTS: The vaccine was found safe and efficacious under both laboratory and field conditions. Vaccine “take” and protection against FP challenge were 100%. Average protection against AE challenge was 97%. Mean AE enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) antibody titer in the field vaccinated chickens was >1200 at 10 WPV. Average daily post-vaccination mortality in the field vaccinated chickens was 0.04%. So far, more than 400 million chickens in the USA have been vaccinated with this vaccine. No vaccine-associated adverse reactions, other safety issues, or immunity breakdown cases in the vaccinated flocks due to field virus infection have been reported. CONCLUSION: This unique vaccine containing AE, FP, and PP viruses in a single preparation was found to be safe and efficacious in controlling the diseases caused by the virulent field strains of AE and FP. Besides being safe and efficacious, this vaccine also offered distinct advantages over the traditional vaccination practices in controlling these two diseases in poultry.