By Scout Nelson
Researchers at South Dakota State University (SDSU) have developed promising vaccine candidates to help control avian metapneumovirus (aMPV), a respiratory disease that has caused significant losses for poultry producers across the United States.
In early 2024, scientists from SDSU’s Animal Disease Research and Diagnostic Laboratory became the first team to identify a rapidly spreading outbreak affecting chickens and turkeys in major poultry-producing areas. The outbreak marked the first detection of the highly harmful aMPV subtypes A and B in the United States.
Led by assistant professors Sunil Mor and Tamer Sharafeldin, the research team quickly created testing methods to identify the virus and immediately began developing vaccines. Their efforts resulted in both live and killed vaccine candidates for aMPV subtype B, with future testing planned to confirm protection against subtype A.
"Emerging subtypes A and B are causing huge economic losses to the poultry industry," Mor said. "We are expediting our efforts to provide the first vaccine based on a U.S. field strain that will provide better protection to birds hence will be helpful in sustainability of U.S. poultry production."
Killed vaccines contain inactive virus material and are administered by injection. Live vaccines use weakened virus strains that stimulate immunity without causing disease. Live vaccines are especially valuable because they can be applied efficiently to large poultry flocks.
The SDSU team developed three live vaccine candidates with different levels of weakening. Testing showed that the medium-level candidate provided the best combination of safety and protection, including complete removal of the virus from infected birds.
"Developing vaccines is not going to be the only objective," Sharafeldin said. "Continued monitoring of new variants due to vaccine pressure will ensure the preparedness for any future outbreak due to emerging variants. This experience achieved over the past two years is exclusively owned by the SDSU poultry research team. We have expanded our collaborations and network sharing experience with other academic parties to benefit U.S. poultry."
The vaccines also performed well in commercial turkeys. Funded by the U.S. Poultry & Egg Association and the USPOULTRY Foundation, the project will now move into preclinical evaluations and field testing.
The development is especially important for poultry-producing states where the virus has caused major economic losses. Researchers believe these vaccines can provide practical, field-ready protection and help reduce future disease impacts on the poultry industry.
Photo Credit: istock-peopleImages
Categories: South Dakota, Livestock, Poultry