Researchers working to understand the prevalence of a virus that can severely affect the immune system of birds say that new strategies are needed to improve disease control in the United Kingdom.
Dr Vishi Reddy, from Keele University in Staffordshire, is one of the authors of a paper published in the journal Virology, which has analysed how infectious bursal disease virus (IBDV) is circulating among British poultry farms (IBDV is also known as Gumboro disease).
IBDV is a virus that damages the immune system of birds by impairing their ability to resist infections and respond to vaccinations, making its control crucial for both animal welfare and food safety reasons.
The researchers collected samples from 16 farms in the United Kingdom between 2020 and 2021, and identified that an IBDV strain known as A3B1 is the predominant type circulating in the majority of sampled premises (81%). A3B1 has emerged worldwide in recent years, adapting through unique genetic variations and spreading across Europe, Asia and Africa.
This study also shows that the majority of sampled farms exhibited co-infection with vaccine strains, which highlights the potential for the virus to adapt and shift to new forms in the field.
Given the impact of IBDV on avian health, in both the poultry meat and egg sectors, its control is key to the stability of poultry production worldwide for sustainable production.
Dr Reddy, from Keele’s School of Life Sciences, says: “This work underscores the need for a multifaceted approach to IBDV control, incorporating genomic surveillance, vaccine efficacy studies and immunological assessments to understand the impacts of viral recombination and antigenic drift on disease presentation and immune escape. Furthermore, it paves the way for broader analyses using whole-genome sequencing to deepen our understanding of the evolving IBDV landscape and improve avian disease control strategies“.
For further information:
-. Molecular characterization of reassortant infectious bursal disease virus (IBDV) strains of genogroup A3B1 detected in some areas of Britain between 2020 and 2021, Virology, Volume 600, 2024, 110269, ISSN 0042-6822
by Vishwanatha R.A.P. Reddy, Carlo Bianco, Christopher Poulos, Sofia C. Egana-Labrin, Andrew J. Brodrick, Salik Nazki, Alex Schock, Andrew J. Broadbent,