The Ability of Blood Plasma from Drinking Water Vaccinated Turkeys to Protect Against a Lethal Challenge of Pasteurella multocida

Turkeys were vaccinated against fowl cholera with the Clemson University avirulent Pasteurella multocida vaccine strain (C.U. strain), using the drinking water route. Plasma was harvested from these turkeys, which later withstood challenge with a highly virulent P-1059 strain of P. multocida. Baby chicks were injected between the thigh and abdominal cavity with the immune plasma and simultaneously, into the breast muscle, with the same highly virulent strain referred to in the foregoing. The results demonstrated that plasma from turkeys vaccinated by the drinking water route protected baby chicks against intramuscular challenge with a virulent strain of P. multocida and suggest that a favorable systemic immunologic response did occur. This is in contrast to the Minnesota M-2283 strain which, reportedly, produces a localized protection only, when used as a drinking water vaccine.