Differentiation between Marek's Disease Virus infected and Herpesvirus of Turkeys vectored vaccinated poultry using ELISA.

Poultry companies use ELISA to determine if their flocks have been adequately vaccinatedagainst poultry pathogens. Herpesvirus of turkeys (HVT) has been used as a vector to createrecombinant vaccines (rHVT) that protect against Marek's disease virus (MDV) and otherpoultry diseases. These rHVT vectored vaccines are widely used in poultry operations yet noELISA kit has been developed to differentiate between MDV infected and HVT vectoredvaccinated birds. Such an ELISA would address research priority 3 improving animal health andwell-being by allowing poultry producers to determine if a flock has been successfullyvaccinated leading to better disease management and control. In our Phase I project wedemonstrated that the glycoprotein B (gB) from HVT could be used as an antigen in the ELISAto differentiate antibodies to HVT from antibodies to MDV-1 and MDV-2 serotypes.In thisPhase II project we are proposing to develop a commercially viable ELISA kit by improving oursignal to background ratio.This will be accomplished by improving the differentiating qualityof our HVT gB antigen and optimizing the ELISA procedure. We will focus on increasing thesignal of our HVT ELISA by cloning and expressing fragments of the gB gene that are the leastsimilar sequence-wise with the MDV-1 and MDV-2 gB proteins.The ELISA protocol will alsobe optimized by testing a variety of test parameters to create a workable product ready forsubmission to the USDA for licensure via a strategic diagnostic industry partner.