Georgia 08 IB Variant Remains Threat to US Poultry
The Georgia 08 variant of the infectious bronchitis virus continues to cast a long shadow over certain regions of the US poultry industry."This isn’t a typical bronchitis that ostensibly affects the upper respiratory tract, causing the usual coughing, swollen sinuses and other respiratory signs,” says Timothy S. Cummings, DVM, DACPV, a veterinarian for Zoetis Inc, speaking to Poultry Health Today. "Initially, we didn’t see many clinical signs at all."
Over time, however, the challenge increases and clinical signs such as snicking or “rattling” become more apparent in some flocks, he reports.
"Condemnation at the processing plant is the main consequence and cause of loss for producers, although in some of the more severely affected flocks, secondary infections such as E. coli develop are an additional cause of mortality in the field that can be attributed to Georgia 08,” Mr Cummings warns.
Click here to read the rest of this article in Zoetis' Poultry Health Today.