Why aren't turkeys vaccinated against bronchitis and gumboro?

Why are turkeys not vaccinated against bronchitis and goiter?

In turkeys, unlike broilers (chickens), vaccines against infectious bronchitis (IBV) and goiter (IBD) are not routinely used, and there are scientific reasons for this 👇

🦃 1. Infectious bronchitis disease (IBV)

Its cause is the avian coronavirus (Coronavirus), which is specific to the chicken species (Gallus gallus).

The virus receptors are present on the cells of the respiratory tract of chickens, but they are not compatible in turkeys.

As a result, turkeys are not susceptible to infectious bronchitis and the disease is not seen in them.

Even if the virus is injected into turkeys, it does not replicate effectively and the immune system does not respond adequately.
➡️ Therefore, the bronchitis vaccine is not applicable and justified for turkeys.

💧 2. Gambro's disease (IBD)

The causative agent of Gambro's disease is the infectious bursal virus (Birnavirus).

This virus is also species-specific and is only pathogenic in chickens, because its specific receptors are present in the tissue of the bursa of Fabricius of chickens.

Turkeys lack specific receptors for IBDV, therefore:

They are neither naturally infected,

nor do the vaccines induce a beneficial immune response in them.

For this reason, turkeys are not vaccinated against Gambro.