The US Poultry & Egg Association and the USPOULTRY Foundation are announcing the completion of a research project that developed both live and inactivated vaccine candidates for avian metapneumovirus (aMPV) subtype B.

aMPV, a virus which causes an acute respiratory tract infection in turkeys and chickens, re-emerged in the US poultry industry, rapidly spreading across key poultry-producing states and posing a significant threat to production. The Center for Veterinary Biologics granted conditional approval for imported vaccines based on European strains as an emergency measure in early 2025; however, no licensed live attenuated vaccines derived from US strains are currently available.

The research project, #745, is titled “Development of Live Attenuated and Killed Vaccines for Emerging Avian Metapneumovirus Subgroup B,” and was led by Sunil Mor at South Dakota University.

A team of researchers led by Mor successfully developed both live and inactivated vaccine candidates for aMPV subtype B. One of the live vaccine candidates showed strong safety and provided complete protection in chickens, while the inactivated vaccine generated strong protective antibody responses. Both vaccine approaches performed well in commercial turkey poults, with the live vaccine offering the highest level of protection.

These results demonstrate strong potential for practical, field-ready tools to help control aMPV in poultry. Overall, the work supports the development of US-based vaccines to reduce future disease impacts and economic losses in the poultry industry.

The research is part of USPOULTRY’s comprehensive research program, which encompasses all phases of poultry and egg production and processing, and is made possible in part through proceeds from the International Poultry Expo, part of the International Production & Processing Expo.

Source: US Poultry & Egg Association