Production and characterization of egg yolk antibodies against bovine alimentary tract pathogens

Abstract

Aim of the study was to evaluate the effect of immunization of hens with bovine vaccines (C, R, T) on the course of IgY antibodies production against selected bovine E.coli strains, rota-and coronaviruses in egg yolk in farm conditions. The hens (40 individuals per group) were vaccinated twice, subcutaneously in four week interval and eggs were harvested once a week. Control group consisted of eggs sampled from non-vaccinated hens located in neighbouring cages. The antibody activity was measured by ELISA. All used vaccines induced the rise of IgY antibody in egg yolks. Based on the duration and the highest level of IgY antibody against bovine alimentary tract pathogens C vaccine was further used in next two trials for vaccination of 1000 hens each time. Double immunization seems to be enough in mounting response against examined pathogens for several weeks. Immunization with C vaccine allowed to harvest eggs with satisfactory levels of E.coli, rotavirus and coronavirus IgY antibodies which may be used to evaluate their protective effect by oral administration in calves.

Development of an IgY-Based Treatment to Control Bovine Coronavirus Diarrhea in Dairy Calves

“…Other studies performed to evaluate non-specific Ab as passive immunity against BCoV diarrhea show that calves treated with a milk replacement supplemented with commercial serum proteins (APC Lifeline with 10% immunoglobulins, 40% proteins, and 0.5% fat) resulted in no differences in diarrhea severity between the control and treated groups [ 48 ]. Finally, several researchers are studying IgY technology against CoV, but they did not evaluate the product in animal models [ 35 , 49 ].…”

“…Our studies have previously described that prophylactic or therapeutic administration of hyperimmune egg yolk to newborn calves during the first days of life significantly reduced the severity of diarrhea after a challenge with virulent bovine RVA [ 25 , 26 ]. In contrast, there are just a few studies on BCoV prevention strategies for bovine and porcine species using IgY Abs [ 33 , 34 , 35 ]. There is only one study that reported that the administration of IgY Abs against BCoV in calves was efficacious against diarrhea [ 36 ].…”