Poultry Vaccination

Question 1

❖Is an effective and economical means of preventing infectious poultry diseases.
❖Live vaccines are available against most viral diseases. However, availability of
bacterins against bacterial infections is still limited.
❖The interval time between the administration of a vaccine and the appearance of
protective antibodies usually takes 10-14 days after initial vaccination.
❖To avoid severe vaccination reactions, only healthy chickens should be vaccinated
following proper vaccination procedures.
❖A vaccination program should be developed based on disease history of the area
where the poultry farm is located.

Answer 1

Vaccination

Question 2

❑Administration of vaccines that do not contain the appropriate
strain or serotypes of the pathogen causing the disease
❑Decreased vaccine potency due to improper storage and or
handling or use of expired vaccine
❑Improper methods of administering the vaccine or giving of
inadequate dosage
❑Presence of high level of maternal antibody that interferes with the
immunization process, particularly in very young chicks
❑Stress, incomplete development of immune-competence, poor
nutrition, mycotoxin, presence of concurrent immunosuppressive
infection (eg. Infectious Bursal Disease, Chronic Respiratory Disease,
coccidiosis) that tend to cause less effective or incomplete immune
responsiveness to vaccines

Answer 2

Vaccination Failure

Question 3

Purchase recommended strain/type of vaccines from reliable sources
Keep vaccines cool at all times. They are best stored in the refrigerator at 4 ̊C
where they are kept cold, but not subjected to freezing and thawing
Put vaccines in an icebox during transport
Take note of the expiry date, which is stamped on each packet of vaccines.
Vaccines lose potency slowly even when stored under ideal conditions.
Vaccines should be purchased as required, stored properly, and used within the
expiry periods.
Follow strictly vaccination schedule and proper use of vaccines as indicated by
the manufacturer

Administer the correct dose. Dosage should not be decreased or increased
unnecessarily
Vaccinate healthy chickens only. Do not vaccinate the flock when there is an
outbreak of disease in the farm (eg. Infectious coryza, Chronic Respiratory
Disease, coccidiosis etc.)
Administer live vaccines within 1 hour after reconstitution. Keep vaccines cool
during vaccination time. If used after 1 hour, the desired protection may not be
attained.
Avoid unnecessary stress during vaccination. Anti-stress supplement may be
given via the drinking water at least 2 days before and 3 days after vaccination
that requires individual handling of chickens (eg. Intraocular or intranasal route of
administration)

Destroy unused reconstituted live vaccines. Burn and bury empty vials/ bottles
and leftover live reconstituted vaccines.
Check or monitor the immune response to NCD or IBD live vaccines by using the
hemagglutination-inhibition (HI) test of ELISA, 10-14 days after each NCD or IBV
vaccination. These test are conducted in most diagnostic laboratories.
Revaccinate flock if the protection or antibody titer is low.

Answer 3

Vaccination Tips

Question 4

help build the natural resistance or immunity of the birds.

Answer 4

❑Vaccines

Question 5

❑Poultry vaccines are widely applied to __________________________
poultry diseases. Their use in poultry production is aimed at avoiding or
minimising the emergence of clinical disease at farm level, thus increasing
production.

Answer 5

prevent and control contagious