Scientists are developing a vaccine against a disease in chicken caused by the infectious bronchitis virus (IBV). The vaccine can be delivered in ovo, i.e., while the chicks are still in the egg, using robotic techniques.

The scientists have extracted a so-called spike protein from a pathogenic virus strain which triggers an immune response, and incorporated it into a harmless non-pathogenic strain. Dr Paul Britton, Head of the coronavirus Group at IAH Compton, explained, "This hybrid virus was able to induce immunity when inoculated before hatching. When hatched chicks were exposed to the virulent M41 strain, we observed protection rates of up to 100 percent. With the UK poultry industry sustaining losses of £23.6M a year to infectious bronchitis virus we hope that our research could have a real impact on improving yields for UK farmers."

The vaccine is still undergoing further refinement to make it suitable for commercial use.

Source: BBSRC