Evaluation of a Commercial Modified Live Virus Fowl Pox Vaccine for the Control of "Variant" Fowl Poxvirus Infections

Three-week-old specific-pathogen-free chickens were vaccinated with either a commercial modified live virus fowl pox vaccine or five "variant" poxvirus field isolates. Immunity engendered by the commercial modified vaccine or field isolates was challenged with either the variant isolates or commercial modified vaccine virus. The commercial modified vaccine did not adequately protect vaccinates against challenge with the variant isolates. The percentages of vaccinated chickens protected following challenge with each of the variant isolates were 70%, 20%, 30%, 20%, and 25%. However, when the isolates were applied as vaccines, 100% of the vaccinates were protected against challenge from the modified vaccine virus. Furthermore, the variant poxvirus isolates offered excellent protection from challenge with homologous variant isolates. The modified live virus vaccine was expected to offer significant protection against challenge from the variant pox isolates, but in this experiment it did not. The variant isolates tested may be good vaccine candidates to prevent the vaccine breaks currently encountered in previously pox-vaccinated flocks.