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Avian - 2003
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| (Print Friendly Version) |
| Project Contact: | David Halvorson | Funding: | $20,000 |
| Kakambi Nagaraja |
District:
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Unknown |
| • The Problem • Background • Objectives • |
Although avian pneumovirus (APV) often causes severe disease in the field, consistent reproduction of illness in the laboratory has not been possible, especially in turkeys over six weeks of age. The inability to consistently reproduce illness confounds research projects and impairs evaluation of vaccine trials in which clinical signs scores are needed to determine vaccine efficacy. Previous studies have ruled out many factors as possible enhancements to the expression of disease associated with APV. Only one, bordetella co-infection, was shown to statistically enhance APV clinical sign scores in four-week-old and nine-week-old turkeys.
A summary of Avian Respiratory Disease Research Progress (1998-2001) is available. See also the project topic page for 2002.
Recently we have specifically identified the CU strain of Pasteurella multocida as a second factor enhancing expression of clinical signs due to APV in four-week-old turkeys. This research aims to improve the current APV infection model by examining how clinical signs of APV can be reliably enhanced through co-infecting research animals with Bordetella avium, and the CU strain of Pasteurella multocida. The project will extend work that has already been done with four-week-old turkeys to those nine weeks old. The project will also conduct bacteriological surveys of field turkey flocks experiencing mild or severe APV clinical signs.