Location: Poultry Production and Product Safety Research
Project Number: 6022-32420-001-044-I
Project Type: Interagency Reimbursable Agreement
Start Date: Jul 1, 2024
End Date: Jun 30, 2027
Objective:
1. To prepare a multivalent C. perfringens (CP) (mixture of 6 or more strains) vaccine using eBeam technology and determine its efficacy in protecting broiler chickens when challenged with homologous and heterologous strains of CP.
2. To prepare a multivalent M. gallisepticum (MG) (mixture of 6 or more strains) vaccine using eBeam technology and determine its efficacy in protecting layer chickens when challenged with homologous and heterologous strains of MG.
3. To test the efficacy of the multivalent-MG vaccine in preventing vertical transmission of MG in egg-laying hens when challenged with homologous strains of MG.
Approach:
The project team assembled has a complex and complementary set of interdisciplinary scientific and practical skills necessary successfully complete the research under the proposed objectives.
Objective 1: We will prepare a multi-valent C. perfringens (mixture of 6 strains) vaccine using eBeam irradiation and determine its efficacy in in reducing colonization and further preventing necrotic enteritis in broiler chickens challenged with live homologous and heterologous strains of C. perfringens.
Objective 2: We propose to develop a multi-valent vaccine consisting of multiple strains of M. gallisepticum vaccine using eBeam irradiation and determine its efficacy in reducing colonization and further control of mycoplasmosis in layer chickens.
Objective 3: We will prepare a combination multi-valent vaccine capable of protecting against multiple strains of M. gallisepticum. We will conduct bird studies to determine the efficacy of eBeam irradiated vaccine in protecting breeder of both broiler and layer chickens when challenged with M. gallisepticum.
We will perform microbial, immunological, microbiome, and RNAseq analyses to determine the effect of vaccine and vaccination.
