The use of a bacterin vaccine in broiler breeders for the control of Ornithobacterium rhinotracheale in commercial broilers

Ornithobacterium rhinotracheale (ORT) is a recently identified bacterial pathogen of poultry, linked to the respiratory disease complex of broilers and the economic losses associated with that disease complex. Present control measures applied for the disease include the continuous use of in-feed antibiotics. A recently developed bacterin vaccine that is applied to broiler-breeder hens to pass on protective immunity to their broiler progeny was tested under large-scale commercial conditions in South Africa. An indirect ELISA test for antibodies to ORT, optimised for use in South Africa, was used to determine antibody levels in breeders and broilers. ELISA test results showed that the vaccine stimulated the development of high antibody titre levels in broiler breeders. The efficacy of the vaccine in protecting the progeny of these birds from ORT challenge could not be determined during the trial, although the progeny of vaccinated hens appeared to perform slightly better under commercial conditions than the progeny of unvaccinated hens.