Development of a vaccine against avian reovirus infection in broiler chickens

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Avian reoviruses (ARVs) are etiological agents for an economically important emerging poultry disease.**Arthrogenic ARVs cause tenosynovitis/arthritis syndrome which is characterized by unilateral or bilateral**swelling of the hock joint resulting in lameness. Depending on the severity, ARV infection results in poor**growth and poor production, and sometimes death, causing considerable economic losses to the poultry**industry. While commercial vaccines are available, the incidence of emerging virulent strains of ARV that**continue to impact the Canadian poultry industry suggest that current vaccines are not effective against**circulating ARV strains. Vaccination is the preferred means to protect broiler chickens from ARV infection.**Currently, some farms in Canada use autogenous vaccines to prevent ARV infection in chickens; however,**autogenous vaccines induce unpredictable immunity and have limited potential as a dedicated control measure**against ARVs. There is no effective vaccine available against the emerging ARV strains currently circulating in**the Canadian broiler chicken industry. If ARVs continue to cause disease, the Canadian broiler chicken**industry will continue to suffer significant economic losses. Therefore, the development of a safe and an**effective vaccine based on the characteristics of circulating virulent strains of ARV is essential. We have**characterized emerging variant ARVs from the broiler chicken industry in Saskatchewan at the genetic and**immunological level. We have demonstrated that four genotypes of ARV affect the Saskatchewan broiler**chicken industry and these genotypes cannot be controlled by a ARV vaccine containing just one type. We**propose to develop a safe and effective multivalent live and inactivated vaccine against ARVs specifically**tailored for the Canadian poultry industry to control emerging ARV infections.