Identification of candidate components of a novel Bordetella avium vaccine to prevent turkey coryza

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The bacterium Bordetella avium infects the respiratory tract of turkeys to cause turkey coryza that is mainly characterised by nasal discharge. This disease is often associated with poor weight gain of affected birds. In most cases the bird will clear the infection within two to four weeks. However, an important complication of B. avium infection is damage to the bird's respiratory tract that renders it more susceptible to other secondary infections. Thus, B. avium infection not only leads to turkey coryza but also to an increased incidence of other, more serious infections. Current vaccines to prevent B. avium infection of turkeys do not work well and comprise poorly characterised attenuated strains of the bacterium. Modern vaccinology has progressed well beyond the process of using such poorly understood strains as vaccines. Rational vaccine design, particularly using purified components of bacteria to formulate an acellular vaccine, is a far more successful approach to producing effective vaccines to prevent infection. This project will identify the B. avium components involved in its ability to colonise and damage the turkey respiratory tract as the starting point to developing a novel and effective vaccine to protect turkeys against B. avium infection. Eliminating or significantly decreasing B. avium infections among commercial turkey flocks will help to reduce the burden of disease endured by turkey producers. This industry is an important source of economic activity in Canada and improvements to turkey production processes will result in significant economic benefits to the industry and to Canada.