respiratory disease
highly contagious
international trade considerations
five distinct forms

Scott Callison, Derek Moormeier, Julia Padavic, John Goza, Brenden Stark, Scott Reed, Amalee Nunnally, James Mills, Corey White, Sean Brimer, Megan Regier, Samantha Schmitt, Ramhari Thapa, Liliana Cubas-Gaona, Frank Zhao, Thomas Lewiner, Mathilde Dernard, Zalan Homonnay, and Istvan Kiss

Introduction: With new vaccine platforms on the rise, such as RNA vaccines, the need for prompt and accurate sequence data from currently circulating pathogens is of paramount importance to create the next generation of “digital” vaccines.  At Ceva, an integrated, cross-functional, global NGS network exists with the goals of active surveillance and characterization of relevant pathogen genes of interest (GOIs), as it pertains to vaccine production. The basic structure of the network begins with a developmental hub to develop and troubleshoot 1) wet lab protocols for capturing desired sequence data and 2) computer tools for storing, moving, analyzing, and reporting sequencing results to Ceva groups. All the developed tools are then transferred to Ceva SSIU laboratories worldwide for real-world testing and analysis. Ultimately, data is centrally stored and searchable by authorized end users for vaccine production, business needs, and on-going customer support.

Methods: Wet lab protocols include both targeted and non-targeted sequencing strategies and involve both long read (Oxford Nanopore Technologies – ONT) and short read sequencing platforms. Data for long read sequencing is analyzed in real-time via Ceva’s proprietary CevaSEQ platform, which is made possible by the unique nature of ONT’s technology. CevaSEQ not only analyzes data in real-time and is accessible from anywhere in the world with an open internet connection, but also centrally stores the data, allows for deeper characterization/analysis of data via automated workflows, and provides the generation of automated full genome analysis reports at the touch of a button.

Results and Discussion:  Current methodologies and success stories that will be discussed during the presentation include IBV, PRRSV, PCV2, Influenza A, IBDV, Streptococcus suis, and Salmonella spp. For evenness, several bottlenecks and pitfalls will also be discussed for the use of NGS data as it pertains to vaccine production.

Erin Riley, Matilde Alfonso, Marshall Putnam

Coccidiosis vaccination is a valuable tool for the poultry industry, however there is inherent variation in uptake of commercial vaccines due to long shelf life and inconsistency of application methods.  This field assessment was done with an integrator in the southern United States to demonstrate that lower dose, shorter shelf-life coccidiosis vaccine has more consistent results in field vaccine uptake and early replication evaluations.  A practical field assessment was done by selecting 20 chicks vaccinated by either of the two methods (40 total), placing them in individual housing units, collecting feces from days 5-8, and performing qPCR and oocyst counts of Eimeria species.  Expected results demonstrate the viability of the vaccines in commercial conditions as well as successful Infectious Bronchitis Virus vaccine detection when applied in gel.  Results from other similar studies will be shared.  The results show that low dose, short shelf-life coccidiosis vaccines administered via a specific gel application is advantageous.

transmission
type
consequences
control