Effects of stresroak as an immunomodulator on birds vaccinated with newcastle disease vaccine

The efficacy of Stresroak--an Ayurvedic product (India) was tested in cockerel chicks. Eighty day-old chicks were randomly allocated into four groups with 20 birds per group. Group 1 received Stresroak at the recommended dosage of 1 ml/20 birds for 5 days prior to the NDV vaccinations (i/o, LaSota and Komarov). Group 2 received Stresroak at double the recommended dosage prior to vaccinations. Group 3 received no treatment but had all the afore mentioned vaccinations while Group 4 received neither treatments nor vaccinations and therefore served as the control group. Sera samples were analyzed by Haemagglutination Inhibition (HI) tests. There was no significant immunostimulation by Stresroak except on days 42 and 63 of life during the period of this study. It is therefore concluded that the manufacturer's claim of immunomodulatory property of Stresroak could not be validated in the humoral immunity studied. It is therefore suggested that further works be conducted using immunosuppressed hosts like birds with subclinical IBD and coccidiosis. In addition, research can be extended to the cell-mediated immunity.