Assessment of tracheal mucosal thicknesses is a preferable method for evaluation of the immunogenicity of Mycoplasma gallisepticum vaccines in poultry

Abstract

Live-attenuated vaccines are commonly used to control chronic respiratory disease (CRD) caused by Mycoplasma gallisepticum in poultry. A previous review found that measures of tracheal lesions are better indicators of the validity of a vaccine efficacy test than air sac lesions. Here we extend those observations by comparing the raw tracheal mucosal thickness (TMT) and gross air sac lesion score (ALS) data from published vaccine efficacy studies to provide insights into standardising methods for evaluation of M. gallisepticum vaccine efficacy by identifying the most discriminative and reproducible parameter to demonstrate the efficacy of vaccines and the validity of immunogenicity tests. Our..