According to the 2021 US agriculture statistics, the combined value of production and sales from broilers, eggs, turkeys, and chicks was $46.1 billion. Unfortunately, available vaccines do not provide sufficient protection against emerging and transboundary infections such as Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza (HPAI) that impacted the poultry industry earlier in 2022. We hypothesize that DNA-based nanoparticle vaccines (nanovaccines) will improve efficiency and delivery of antigens for robust induction of protective immunity against poultry pathogens. Recently, reports from our group indicated that a novel nanoadjuvant system (termed QAC for Quil-A-treated Chitosan) combined with plasmid DNA constructs were able to deliver viral antigens and mount a strong, protective immunity in chickens against Infectious Bronchitis Virus (IBV). In this project, we will capitalize on our experience in developing mosaic nanovaccines that can represent thousands of circulating viral isolates. Specifically, we plan to: First, examine the delivery and stability of avian influenza-hemagglutinin (HA) antigen. We will utilize vaccine constructs to characterize mosaic antigen release kinetics and infectivity to chicken cells following different temperature conditions that mimic field application. Second, we will analyze the immunogenicity of several vaccine constructs in chickens using intranasal and oral routes. Finally, we will analyze the overal vaccine protection by following challenge with LPAI and HPAI. Overall, developing effective, safe, and easy to administer nanovaccines will significantly improve our preparation to control emerging and re-emerging infections in poultry and other animals.

Avian INfluenza Vaccines