Management Practices to Reduce Infectious Laryngotracheitis Virus in Poultry Litter

We developed a natural challenge method using sentinel chickens reared on litter contaminated with infectious laryngotracheitis (ILT) vaccine virus (V) and a nested polymerase chain reaction (PCR) to determine the presence of ILTV in the feces and tracheas of the chickens. In 3 separate experiments, we determined that several commercially available poultry litter treatments (Poultry Guard, Al+Clear, and PLT), heating the litter to 38°C (100°F) for 24 h, and in-house composting for 5 d reduced ILTV below our detection level. This information is of immediate use to members of the poultry industry for controlling ILTV-induced disease in broilers and may reduce other important viral pathogens in poultry houses as well. Poultry companies around the United States are now using our methods for reducing ILTV in their houses.