UNIFORMITY OF INFECTION AFTER INOVOCOX™ DELIVERY AT E18 USING THE INOVOJECT® SYSTEM

R. M. Poston, L. K. Griffin, J. R. Upton, H. E. Boyette, A. Martin, and V. W. Doelling
Embrex, Inc., P.O. Box 13989, Research Triangle Park, NC 27709
rposton@embrex.com

This study investigated the uniformity of infection among individual chicks vaccinated at 18 days of embryonation with a controlled dose of Inovocox™. Inovocox is a live oocyst vaccine consisting of four strains of coccidia including Eimeria acervulina, E. tenella, and two strains of E. maxima. A 50 ul dose of Inovocox in Marek’s diluent was administered to Cobb x Cobb broiler embryos using the Inovoject® system. Percent hatch of vaccinates was normal. At hatch, 60 in ovo vaccinated chicks were placed in individual cages facilitating fecal collection from individual birds. Fecal collections were performed over days 4-9. Oocyst presence and relative oocyst sizes in feces were determined using Whitlock flotation chambers. The percentage of birds demonstrating infection was 90% with representative sizes of all vaccine strains present. These data indicate that in ovo administration of a live oocyst vaccine to broiler embryos results in a consistent, uniform infection during the first week of life when administered via this specific injection system.