USPOULTRY and the USPOULTRY Foundation are announcing the completion of a funded research project, aimed at developing six vaccines for reovirus in turkeys, by researchers in the Department of Veterinary Population Medicine at the University of Minnesota. Made possible by an endowing USPOULTRY Foundation gift from West Liberty Foods, the research is part of USPOULTRY's comprehensive research program encompassing all poultry and egg production and processing phases.

The project, titled " Development of Live Attenuated Vaccine for Reoviruses Causing Arthritis and Hepatitis in Turkeys," was led by Dr. Sagar Goyal, Veterinary Population Medicine, University of Minnesota.

Turkey arthritis reovirus causes lameness and hepatitis in turkeys, resulting in huge economic losses and can also lead to welfare concerns. Goyal and colleagues aimed to develop live attenuated vaccines that could provide broad protection against turkey arthritis reoviruses and turkey hepatitis reoviruses. The six vaccines developed in the study indicated they were safe to use in turkey poults. However, a single dose of the developed vaccines in 10-day-old poults was insufficient to protect against the disease.

Source: U.S. Poultry & Egg Association