Tag: poultry

Global Alliance for Research on Avian Diseases (GARAD)-2020, Beijing and Binzhou, China

The GARAD conference will establish global partnerships and links between academic researchers and the poultry industry to improve joined up work on preventing, controlling and combating avian diseases. The conference will address basic, applied and commercial aspects of research on avian diseases. All stakeholders including senior scientists and young researchers from academia, industry and government […]

Genetic engineering speeds up poultry vaccine development

Scientists at The Pirbright Institute have used genetic engineering to develop a vaccine that protects birds against both Marek’s disease and avian influenza. They say the process is faster and more efficient compared to previous methods, which will allow poultry vaccine producers to rapidly update vaccine strains in order to keep up with virus evolution. […]

Study of chicken gut cells may aid vaccine design

The colony-stimulating factor 1 receptor (CSF1R) has been shown to be expressed in the follicle-associated epithelium cells in the avian gut-associated lymphoid tissue. This was an unexpected finding as CSF1R is typically expressed in macrophages, not in epithelial cells. The results in studies with chicken cells pave the way for research looking to enhance the […]

Chicken antiviral proteins: study of genetic variation across breeds

A collaborative study led by The Pirbright Institute and Imperial College London has identified variations in the genes of chicken antiviral proteins called interferon-induced transmembrane proteins (IFITMs) which could have an impact on their ability to fight viral infections. This is the first study to look at the natural genetic variation of IFITM genes across […]

Marek’s disease: researchers find fat is crucial for virus infection

Scientists at The Pirbright Institute have demonstrated that production and storage of fat is required for Marek’s disease virus (MDV) replication in chickens. Their research identifies new pathways that are involved in the development of the disease; they hope their findings will lead to control strategies to reduce virus spread. Marek’s disease is a major […]

Launch of the ‘One Health Poultry Hub’

The Royal Veterinary College (RVC) has announced the launch of the UKRI GCRF One Health Poultry Hub. The RVC is the lead organisation, with partners in Asia, Australia and Europe. Funded by the Global Challenges Research Fund (GCRF) of UK Research and Innovation (UKRI), this interdisciplinary Hub will address the need to meet rising demand […]

Mutant H9N2 avian influenza viruses show enhanced zoonotic potential

Research led by The Pirbright Institute has shown that mutant influenza A(H9N2) viruses isolated from Pakistan are able to escape immune responses and adapt to infect humans. This could result in reduced vaccine efficiency in poultry and the possibility of human outbreaks. The researchers report in Emerging Infectious Diseases the discovery of small changes to […]

Recombinant viral vector for poultry vaccination

Researchers at The Pirbright Institute have developed a new recombinant viral vector-based vaccine that is effective against both Marek’s disease (MD) and infectious bursal disease (IBD). Their study is published in npj Vaccines. Many poultry vaccines currently use a modified herpesvirus of turkeys (HVT) to induce protection. Although these vaccines are effective when used alone, […]

Pandemic potential of H9N2 avian influenza viruses studied

Researchers have identified the molecular mechanisms that enable H9N2 viruses – the most common type of avian influenza virus – to infect humans, helping improve risk assessments for its potential to cause pandemic. Although H9N2 viruses are considered less pathogenic than some types of avian influenza virus, they still cause significant losses for the poultry […]