Applications in in ovo technology

By mid-August 1995, 55% of broiler embryos in North America were vaccinated for Marek's disease using the INOVOJECT(R) system, with 201 INOVOJECT(R) machines placed with 16 of the top 25 poultry producers, providing the industry with the capacity to inject in excess of 400 million eggs per month or about 5 billion eggs per annum. In ovo administration of a bursal disease antibody-infectious bursal disease virus (BDA-IBDV) complexed vaccine to specific-pathogen-free (SPF) embryos was safer and more potent than conventional IBDV vaccine alone because it delayed the appearance of bursal lesions, produced no early mortality, produced higher geometric mean antibody titers against IBDV, and generated protective immunity against challenge. In ovo administration of a BDA-IBDV complexed vaccine to broiler embryos generated antibody titers against IBDV sooner than conventional virus vaccinates, and generated protective immunity against challenge. Direct DNA injection of plasmid DNA encoding beta-galactosidase into breast muscle in ovo and posthatch was an effective means to achieve both gene transfer and expression, with potential for the development of gene vaccines using plasmids encoding protective antigens from poultry pathogens. In ovo administration of 800 U chicken myelomonocytic growth factor (cMGF), a chicken hematopoietic cytokine for cells of the monocytic-granulocytic Lineages, significantly reduced mortality associated with Escherichia coli exposure within the hatcher when compared to PBS controls (6.1 vs 12.4, P less than or equal to 0.05), but not when compared to a yeast expression control. A procedure was developed enabling injection prior to the onset of incubation without compromising embryo viability. This in ovo injection process has opened up the window of embryo development during incubation for intervention, as illustrated by the 100% male phenotype produced in chicks hatching from eggs injected with aromatase inhibitor prior to incubation. These data illustrate some of the in ovo applications presently in use by the poultry industry, and under development or in research at EMBREX.