To help producers plan for an increase in risk, a major European animal
drug company has launched a new quarterly survey of infectious bronchitis (IB)
strains across Europe.
It was discovered that a variety of strains of
Infectious Bronchitis with distinct differences exist
between countries, according to the results of Fort Dodge's first survey
conducted by Liverpool University.
It was revealed that the most common strain detected from 2002-2004 was
Italy-02, which is particularly dominant in the UK, France and Spain. Since
2004, the emergence of a novel strain, QX-like (L1148/D388), has been noted. It
was most common in Germany/Benelux in 2004 and in France from 2006.
A concern raised by the results is a re-emergence of the D1466 strain seen
in layers and breeders across Europe. This re-emergence is worrying because it
is different from other strains and existing live vaccines do not offer
protection.
IB is a common, significant, acute and highly contagious respiratory
disease in chickens affecting flocls of all ages, and is caused by an avian
coronavirus. IB is of particular economic importance as it causes poor weight
gain and feed efficiency in growing birds and egg production declines sharply in
laying birds.
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by
Editor WorldPoultry
Feb 20, 2008