MERCK MANUAL

Veterinary Manual
Veterinary / Poultry / Infectious Bronchitis

Overview of Infectious
Bronchitis in Poultry
By Glenn F. Browning, BVSc, DVCS, PhD, Professor in Veterinary Microbiology,
Asia-Pacific Centre for Animal Health, Faculty of Veterinary Science, The
University of Melbourne

Infectious bronchitis is an acute, highly contagious disease of major economic importance in

commercial chicken flocks throughout the world. It is usually characterized by respiratory
signs, although decreased egg production and poor egg quality are sometimes seen in
breeders and layers. Some strains of the etiologic agent, infectious bronchitis virus (IBV), are
nephropathogenic, causing interstitial nephritis, particularly in chicks. Associations with
myopathy and proventriculitis have also been reported.

Etiology and Epidemiology:

IBV is a coronavirus that only causes disease in chickens, although some other birds may be
subclinically infected. Some serotypes are geographically restricted, but multiple serotypes
commonly cocirculate in one geographic region. In recent years, a novel IBV genotype, the
QX strain, has become increasingly common in Asia and Europe. IBV is shed by infected
chickens in respiratory discharges and feces, and it can be spread by aerosol, ingestion of
contaminated feed and water, and contact with contaminated equipment and clothing.
Naturally infected chickens and those vaccinated with live IBV may shed virus intermittently
for up to 20 wk after infection. The incubation period is generally 24–48 hr, with the peak in
excretion of virus from the respiratory tract lasting 3–5 days after infection. The severity of
disease and the body systems involved are influenced by the strain of the virus; the age,
strain, immune status, and diet of the chickens; and cold stress. In addition, coinfection with
Mycoplasma gallisepticum, Mycoplasma synoviae, Escherichia coli, and/or Avibacterium
paragallinarum can exacerbate disease.

Clinical Findings:
Infectious bronchitis, wrinkled egg shells

Courtesy of Dr. Jean Sander.

Morbidity is commonly close to 100%. Chicks may cough, sneeze, and have tracheal rales for
10–14 days. Conjunctivitis and dyspnea may be seen, and sometimes facial swelling,
particularly with concurrent bacterial infection of the sinuses. Chicks may appear depressed
and huddle under heat lamps. Feed consumption and weight gain are reduced. Infection
with nephropathogenic strains can cause initial respiratory signs, then later depression,
ruffled feathers, wet droppings, greater water intake, and death. In layers, egg production
may drop by as much as 70%, and eggs are often misshapen, with thin, soft, rough, and/or
pale shells, and can be smaller and have watery albumen. In most cases, egg production and
egg quality return to normal, but this may take up to 8 wk. In most outbreaks mortality is
5%, although mortality rates are higher when disease is complicated by concurrent bacterial
infection. Nephropathogenic strains can induce interstitial nephritis with high mortality (up
to 60%) in young chicks. Infection of young chicks may cause permanent damage to the
oviduct, resulting in layers or breeders that never reach normal levels of production.

Lesions:
Infectious bronchitis, airsacculitis, chicken

Courtesy of Dr. Jean Sander.

Trachea with excessive amount of mucus, chicken

Courtesy of Dr. Pedro Villegas.

In the respiratory tract, the trachea, sinuses, and nasal passages may contain serous,
catarrhal, or caseous exudates, and the air sacs a foamy exudate initially, progressing to
cloudy thickening. If complicated by infection with E coli, there may be caseous airsacculitis,
perihepatitis, and pericarditis. Birds infected when very young may have cystic oviducts,
whereas those infected while in lay have an oviduct of reduced weight and length and
regression of the ovaries. Infection with nephropathogenic strains results in swollen, pale
kidneys, with the tubules and ureters distended with urates; in birds with urolithiasis, the
ureters may be distended with urates and contain uroliths, and the kidneys may be
atrophied.

Diagnosis:
Laboratory confirmation is required for diagnosis of respiratory forms because of similarities
to mild forms of disease caused by agents such as Newcastle disease virus, avian
metapneumovirus, infectious laryngotracheitis virus, mycoplasmas, A paragallinarum, and
Ornithobacterium rhinotracheale. Demonstration of seroconversion or a rise in antibody
titer against IBV by ELISA, or hemagglutination inhibition or virus neutralization tests can
be used for diagnosis when there is a history of respiratory disease or reduced egg
production.
Definitive diagnosis is generally based on virus detection and identification. Virus can be
isolated by inoculation of homogenates of tracheal, cecal tonsil, and/or kidney tissue into 9-
to 11-day-old SPF chicken embryos, with growth of IBV indicated by embryo stunting and
curling, and deposition of urates in the mesonephros, with variable mortality. Alternatively,
IBV may be isolated in tracheal organ cultures, with growth of virus indicated by cessation of
cilial motility. Several blind passages of the virus may be necessary for isolation of some field
strains. More rapid diagnosis may be achieved using reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain
reaction (RT-PCR) assays to detect viral RNA in nucleic acid extracts of tracheal, cecal tonsil,
or kidney tissue.

Typing viruses can help distinguish vaccine and field strains and may help diagnose
outbreaks caused by serotypes distinct from those of the vaccines used in a flock. Serotypes
have been identified using sera from SPF chickens inoculated with known serotypes in virus
neutralization tests. However, because this is expensive and time consuming, it is not readily
available. A restricted range of serotype-specific monoclonal antibodies (MAb) have been
developed for serotyping, but direct detection viral antigen using these MAbs to
immunohistochemically stain tissue sections from diseased birds is of limited value because
of the low concentration of antigen in tissues. The MAbs have been best used after
propagation in chicken embryos, to detect viral antigen in the chorioallantoic membranes by
immunofluorescence or immunoperoxidase staining, or in the allantoic fluid by ELISA.
Analyses of the products of RT-PCR assays are now commonly used to identify the virus
serotype and to identify individual strains within serotypes. The S1 region of the spike
glycoprotein gene determines the serotype, and RT-PCR products derived from this region
can be subjected to restriction fragment length polymorphism analysis, analyzed by
nucleotide sequencing, or compared with reference strains using high-resolution melting
curve analysis. Genotype determination based on the S1 region can be complemented by
analyzing other regions of the viral genome, including the nucleocapsid gene and the 5'
untranslated region. These analyses can also aid in rapid detection of novel recombinant
IBVs.

Control:
No medication alters the course of IBV infection, although antimicrobial therapy may reduce
mortalities caused by complicating bacterial infections. In cold weather, increasing the
ambient temperature may reduce mortalities, and reducing the protein concentrations in
feed and providing electrolytes in drinking water may assist in outbreaks caused by
nephropathogenic strains.

The attenuated vaccines used for immunization may produce mild respiratory signs. These
vaccines are initially given to 1- to 14-day-old chicks by spray, drinking water, or eye drop,
and birds are commonly revaccinated. Revaccination with a virus from a distinct serotype
can induce broader protection. Attenuated or adjuvanted inactivated vaccines can be used in
breeders and layers to prevent egg production losses.

There are many distinct serotypes of IBV, and new or variant serotypes, which are not fully
controlled by existing vaccines, are identified relatively frequently. Some variants may be
derived from recombination between existing field strains and vaccine strains, whereas
others result from point mutations in existing strains. Selection of vaccines should be based
on knowledge of the most prevalent serotype(s) on the premises. The correlation between
serotype and protection is imperfect, and definition of the most appropriate vaccine, or
combination of vaccines, may require experimental assessment of several combinations of
vaccines to identify the most effective regimen. The most commonly used live vaccines in the
USA contain derivatives of the Massachusetts, Connecticut, and Arkansas strains, whereas in
Australia, where the most prevalent serotypes are distinct from most other countries,
vaccines are based on derivatives of the VicS and Armidale strains. In Europe, vaccines
incorporating derivatives of the 4/91 strain and those derived from QX-like viruses are
available. Vaccination with selected variant serotypes may be of use when these variants are
the dominant strain in flocks, although regulatory authorities in some countries only permit
use of vaccines derived from the Massachusetts strain.

© 2018 Merck Sharp & Dohme Corp., a subsidiary of Merck & Co., Inc., Kenilworth, NJ, USA