Immunopathological comparison of in ovo and post-hatch vaccination techniques for infectious bursal disease vaccine in layer chicks

Iqra Zaheer; Wei Chen; Ahrar Khan; Abdelmotaleb Elokil; Muhammad Kashif Saleemi; Tean Zaheer; Muhammad Zargham Khan

doi:10.3389/fvets.2022.947522

Immunopathological comparison of in ovo and post-hatch vaccination techniques for infectious bursal disease vaccine in layer chicks

Front Vet Sci. 2022 Jul 26:9:947522. doi: 10.3389/fvets.2022.947522. eCollection 2022.

Authors

Iqra Zaheer¹, Wei Chen², Ahrar Khan³, Abdelmotaleb Elokil⁴, Muhammad Kashif Saleemi¹, Tean Zaheer⁵, Muhammad Zargham Khan¹

Affiliations

¹ Department of Pathology, University of Agriculture, Faisalabad, Pakistan.
² Institute of Animal Science, Guangdong Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Animal Nutrition and Feed Science in South China, Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, State Key Laboratory of Livestock and Poultry Breeding, Key Laboratory of Guangdong Public Laboratory of Animal Breeding and Nutrition, Guangdong Key Laboratory of Animal Breeding and Nutrition, Guangzhou, China.
³ Department of Animal Science & Technology, Shandong Vocational Animal Sciences and Veterinary College, Weifang, China.
⁴ Department of Animal Production, Faculty of Agriculture, Benha University, Benha, Egypt.
⁵ Department of Parasitology, University of Agriculture, Faisalabad, Pakistan.

Abstract

This study was designed to compare immunopathological effects of in ovo vaccination with post-hatch vaccination against IBD in White Leghorn chicks. A total of 189 embryonated eggs were divided into six groups. At day 18 of incubation, groups A-C were administered in ovo with 228E, Winterfield 2512:10/3 and 2512/90:10/2.7, respectively, group D (post-hatch vaccination) and group E as shamed control (for quality evaluation of in ovo vaccination technique), and group F as control. The results showed that antibody titers against IBD detected by ELISA on days 2, 17, and 28 were significantly higher in all in ovo groups as compared to control groups E and F. On day 17, all vaccinated groups (in ovo and post-hatch vaccinated) showed no significant differences in antibody titers among themselves; however, at day 28, only the post-hatch group showed significantly higher antibody titers followed by in ovo vaccinated groups. The cell-mediated immunity determined by PHA-P assay was significantly higher in all vaccinated groups than the non-vaccinated groups. No clinical signs of IBD infection were observed in any of the vaccinated groups. There was only increase in bursa size of groups vaccinated with intermediate plus strains (groups A, C, and D) at day 28. The histopathology showed that all the treatment groups had mild lesions induced by IBD virus in bursa. This study concluded that in ovo vaccination with live IBD vaccines provides protective immunity to the chickens even in the presence of IBD-specific MDA; therefore, the onset of immunity was much earlier than the post-hatch vaccination and in ovo groups also maintained protective immunity against IBD for longer time.

Keywords: IBD; immunopathology; in-ovo; layers; vaccine.