UK scientists find new ways of developing vaccines to tackle poultry virus

British scientists have developed a new approach to designing vaccines for one of the sector’s biggest challenges, a highly contagious poultry pathogen.

Infectious bronchitis virus (IBV), also known as avian coronavirus, is a respiratory disease that impacts both the health and productivity of chickens.

Signs of this highly contagious virus include snicking, wheezing, watery eyes and nasal discharge.

Infection with IBV not only raises welfare concerns, but also results in reduced weight gain and a drop in egg production.

To control it, chickens are vaccinated using a combination of live attenuated vaccines and inactivated vaccines.

Live attenuated vaccines use a weakened form of the virus and are created by repeatedly ‘growing’ the virus in eggs until it loses virulence.

However, scientists at Surrey-based Pirbright Institute say this method is unpredictable, relying on random genetic mutations that sometimes compromise efficacy of the vaccine.

Additionally, they say that this process is time-consuming, meaning it’s ill adapted for responding to new or emerging strains of the virus.

This has prompted Pirbright to explore new ways of developing vaccines that can be adapted across strains and used in response to emerging ones.

In a new study, they used a ‘targeted attenuation’ approach to make specific modifications to weaken the virus without compromising its ability to stimulate immunity.

Vaccines against other coronaviruses like SARS-CoV-2 primarily target the Spike (S) protein. However, this approach has proven ineffective for IBV, highlighting the need for alternative strategies.

According to the research, this approach could help reduce the burden of IBV on the poultry sector, improve welfare and protect food security.

Dr Erica Bickerton, Coronavirus group lead said “By using targeted attenuation we can develop vaccines that are more effective and adaptable to new strains.

“It also opens up the possibility of developing vaccines against other coronaviruses.”

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