Passive immunisation of turkey poults against turkey coryza (bordetellosis) by vaccination of parent breeders.

Seventy turkey parent breeders were vaccinated subcutaneously at 24 and 28 weeks of age with a bacterin consisting of equal parts of a heat-inactivated suspension of the coryza producing Bordetella-like strain IPDH 591-77 and Freund's complete adjuvant. One group of 70 breeder hens served as un-vaccinated controls. Two and 3.5 months after the second vaccination eggs were collected and incubated. After hatching, 3-day-old poults from vaccinated and unvaccinated hens were challenged by direct-contact exposure to artificially infected poults. The results of clinical, cultural and histopathological examinations indicated that the majority of the progeny of vaccinated turkey breeder hens was protected against infection with the bacterial turkey coryza agent within the first 10 to 17 days after hatching. Agglutinating antibodies against the turkey coryza agent could be detected in vaccinated hens as well as in their progeny.