Project Number: 6612-32000-048-24
Project Type: Reimbursable

Start Date: Aug 01, 2008
End Date: Sep 30, 2009

Objective:
1) Determine the ability of current vaccine seed strains to protect chickens against emerging H5N1 high pathogenicity avian influenza field viruses, and 2) Develop serological reagents for use within in vitro tests to detect HPAI antigenic variants.

Approach:
Commercial avian influenza (AI) vaccines, vaccine seed strains and field H5N1 high pathogenicity (HP) AI viruses will be obtained from Indonesia. Vaccines will be evaluated in a chicken model for potency using serological tests samples from vaccinated birds and efficacy by challenge with antigenic drift field viruses and measuring protection by prevention of morbidity, mortality, and replication of challenge virus. Typing antisera will be produced in chickens and used in in vitro serological tests to assess antigenic variants of additional field viruses. Using the accumulated data, replacement vaccine strains will be developed.