Passive antibody transfer in chickens to model maternal antibody after avian influenza vaccination

Birds transfer maternal antibodies (MAb) to their offspring through the egg yolk where the antibody is absorbed and enters the circulatory system. Maternal antibodies provide early protection from disease, but may interfere with the vaccination efficacy in the chick. MAb are thought to interfere with vaccine antigen processing that reduces the subsequent immune response. Once MAb titers are depleted, the chick will respond to vaccination, but they are also susceptible to viral infection. This study examines the effect of MAb on seroconversion to different viral-vectored avian influenza virus (AIV) vaccines. Chicks were given passively transferred antibodies (PTA) using AIV hyperimmunized serum, and subsequently vaccinated with a fowlpox-AIV recombinant vaccine (FPr) or a Newcastle disease virus-AIV recombinant vaccine (NDVr). Our results indicate that passively transferred antibodies led to significant reduction of seroconversion and clinical protection from virulent challenge in recombinant virus vaccinated chicks thus demonstrating maternal antibody interference to vaccination. The passive antibody transfer model system provides an important tool to evaluate maternal antibody interference to vaccination.