Immunosuppressive Diseases

in Poultry

By
Mohamed Hossany Negm
Senior Technical Support Specialist
and Marketing
Masters Degree, Poultry Science, very good

TEL:00201123223874
Faculty of Agriculture Zagazig University

Immunosuppressive Disease
-General Indicators Increased incidence of complicated

respiratory disease
Increased E. coli problems
Increased condemnations-- airsacculitis and
Septicemia/Toxemia

Failure to resolve vaccine reactions

Failure to respond to medication

Immunosuppressive Disease
-General Indicators Increased mortality and poor performance
Decreased serologic response to

vaccination
Increased incidence of secondary disease
Gangrenous dermatitis
Inclusion body hepatitis
Necrotic enteritis

Immunosuppressive Disease
-Specific Indicators Early/permanent damage to bursa of Fabricius
<2 weeks of age

Early/permanent damage to thymus in young

chickens
General lymphoid cell depletion
Failure to respond immunologically to antigens
Vaccines
Experimental antigens- sheep red blood cells,
Brucella abortus

Immunosuppressive Disease
-Specific Indicators Failure to respond to vaccination as

evidenced by lack of resistance to field

challenge following challenge
Failure to mount a cell-mediated immune
response (CMI)
Fowl Pox, ILT
Inability to clear bacteria from the

bloodstream following IV inoculation

Immunosuppression
-Confusing Factors Introduction of new pathogen for which

current vaccines are not protective or

available.
Variant Infectious Bronchitis
Variant Infectious Bursal Disease
Very virulent Infectious Bursal Disease
Variant Mycoplasmas
Etc.

Immunosuppression
-Confusing Factors Inappropriate or ineffective vaccination programs
Use of virulent vaccine
hot Gumboro vaccine

Maternal and/or vaccine titer to low at vaccination

Improper vaccination techniques
Fine spray versus coarse spray
Respiratory vaccines-IBV, NDV
Gumboro vaccines

Misuse of vaccines that cause Immunosuppression or

interfere with immune response

Immunosuppression
-Confusing Factors Development of resistance to commonly

used antibiotics
Environmental factors
Sanitation
Biosecurity
Ventilation
Bird density
Down time between flocks

Breed differences

Avian Immune System

Bursa of Fabricius (B-lymphocytes)

Thymus (T-lymphocytes)
Liver
Spleen
Bone marrow
Lymphoid cell aggregates
Blood

AVIAN IMMUNITY
HARDERIAN
GLAND

LYMPHOID
PATCH
CECAL
TONSILS

THYMUS

BURSA of
FABRICIUS
HEART

SPLEEN
BONE
MARROW

YOLK OR
YOLK
REMNANT

Factors Affecting Function of

Immune System
Innate resistance
Age
Sex
Physiology
Genetics

Factors Affecting Function of

Immune System
Environment
Air quality
Temperature
Stress
Nutrition
Sanitation in hatchery and grow-out
Biosecurity
Infectious Diseases

Factors Affecting Function of

Immune System
Diet
Formulation
Profound effect on function of immune system

Dietary toxins
Mycotoxins
Biogenic Ammines
Rancid fat

Infectious Diseases that Affect the

Immune System
Infectious Bursal Disease
Chicken Anemia Virus
Mareks Disease

Reovirus
Interactions

Infectious Bursal Disease

Clinical Form
Typically in birds 2.5-6 weeks of age
Classical and vvIBD virus strains- gelatinous
transudate on bursa of Fabricius, edema,
hemorrhage, followed by atrophy due to
lymphocyte destruction and depletion.
Mortality especially with vvIBD
Transitory immunosuppression

Infectious Bursal Disease

Subclinical Form
Occurs prior to 2 weeks of age
Characterized by atrophy of bursa without
evidence of clinical disease
Most important form of disease in many parts
of world, results in permanent and severe
damage to bursa of Fabricius
The earlier the damage occurs to bursa of
Fabricius, more severe the
immunosuppression

Infectious Bursal Disease

Effects on immune responses to IBV, NDV
and ILT vaccines
NDV- decreased response to vaccination,
increased persistence of virus in trachea
IBV- reduced resistance to challenge,
increased virus persistence by several weeks
ILT- decreased response to vaccination, but
does not increase viral persistence

Effects of IBD Virus on Immune Response

Immune Response to NDV Vaccine following Infection with
IBDV at Different Ages
Treatment
Mortality

IBDV
Challenge
1 day

NDV
Vaccine
28 d

NDV
Challenge
49 d

# dead/total

7 day

28 d

49 d

13/31

14 day

28 d

49 d

3/31

21 day

28 d

49 d

3/31

None

28 d

49 d

3/35

None

----

49 d

33/33

27/31

Chicken Anemia Virus (CAV)

Loss of immature T-cells in thymus

Decreased erythropoiesis and increased

fat infiltration of bone marrow

Effects of CAV on Immune

Response
CAV infectious resulting from transovarian or

infection shortly after hatch can be

immunosuppressive
Responses to IBV, NDV, and ILT are affected
Increased susceptibility to bacterial infections
(gangrenous dermatitis)
Age associated resistance to CAV induced
immunosuppression in birds older than 2 weeks

Effects of IBDV on Susceptibility of

Chickens to CAV
IBDV alters age-associated susceptibility

to CAV and allows CAV to be

immunosuppressive in older birds
Decreased dose of CAV is necessary to
cause disease

Mareks Disease Virus

Interactions with other infectious agents
CAV
Subgroup J virus (Myeloid Leukosis)
E. coli
Coccidiosis
Avian Reoviruses
IBD (Gumboro)
Respiratory disease viruses

Avian Reoviruses
Specific ReovirusesMiss-B Reovirus
Isolated from bursa of SPF sentinels
Antigenically similar to S1133 Reovirus
High mortality and reduced body weights in
broilers infected at 1 day of age
Bursa and thymic atrophy
Liver necrosis, tenosynovitis
Virus widely disseminated in tissues for
several weeks post infection

Avian Reovirus
Avian Reovirus (Miss-B isolate) can suppress
immune responses to NDV and IBV
Susceptibility to CAV is increased by prior
Reovirus exposure
CAV, IBDV, and Reovirus interact to induce
more severe disease

Programs to Minimize Impact of

Immunosuppressive Diseases
Accurate diagnosis
Control pathogens that are known

immunosuppressive agents
IBDV
CAV
Mareks Disease virus
Interactions

Manage environmental factors than can

exacerbate immunosuppressive diseases

Consider and control influence of breed and
nutrition on disease susceptibility

Programs to Minimize the Impact of

Immunosuppressive Diseases
The impact of Subgroup J viruses and specific
Reoviruses are less definitive but appear to
play a significant role in some flocks
Interactions of pathogens often result in
increased susceptibility