Molecular evidence for a geographically restricted population of infectious bursal disease viruses

A population of infectious bursal disease virus (IBDV) in northeast Ohio that appears to be geographically restricted was identified. Thirteen broiler farms containing a total of 36 houses were examined for the presence of IBDV. Twenty-four of the 36 houses were positive for IBDV, and of those viruses, 15 viruses from six different broiler farms formed a unique phylogenetic group. Nucleotide sequence analysis identified glutamic acid (E) at position 253 in all 15 viruses. Only one other virus in the GenBank database contained this mutation, and it was also from northeast Ohio. All 15 viruses from this study and the one identified in GenBank also had a unique VP1 sequence. The amino acids located at position 253 in VP2 are typically histidine (attenuated viruses) and glutamine (pathogenic viruses). Because amino acid 253 has been linked to pathogenicity in IBDV, two viruses from the E253 population were selected for pathogenicity studies. They were observed to be pathogenic in 4-wk-old specific-pathogen-free layer chicks. When these two viruses were used to challenge broilers from the parent flock that supplies the birds to all 13 broiler farms examined in this study, the viruses were able to break through the maternal immunity at 14 and 21 days of age but not at 7 days of age. A similar scenario was observed on the six broiler farms that had these viruses. The phylogeographic data suggest this population of IBDV has been restricted for more than 14 yr to northeast Ohio. Because commercially available classic and variant vaccines do not effectively control this population of IBDV, other alternatives are needed.