Improving poultry health - developing new methods to study cellular immunity to infectious diseases
Infectious diseases cause substantial problems in all types of poultry production. They pose a threat to animal welfare and create economic losses through mortality and loss of production. One of the most effective ways to combat infectious agents is to vaccinate the animals in order to render them immune to disease. Vaccination reduces the need for antimicrobial and coccidiostatic compounds during poultry rearing and is indeed the only prophylactic treatment allowed in organic rearing systems. However, the development of effective vaccines requires extensive understanding of the immune mechanisms involved in protective immunity to the pathogen in question. The project aims to establish new tools to study cellular immune mechanisms in poultry in order to understand immune responses to infectious agents in this species, and subsequently use this knowledge to develop effective poultry vaccines. We intend to set up and validate a new robust assays to evaluate pathogen specific cytotoxic T lymphocyte (CTL) activity in poultry. Moreover, we will study the development and role of CTL in the pathogenisis of two infectious diseases of poultry, namely Infectious Bursal Disease and coccidiosis. This project will thereby contribute to improve the current treatment, and prevent outbreaks of infectious diseases in poultry.
Responsible: Senior scientist Helle Juul-Madsen
Project period: 01.07.2005 - 31.12.2006
Partners: National Veterinary Institute (SVA), Sweden
Last updated: Thursday 21 June 2007 - [email protected]
Tel: +45 8999 1900