Immune Status of Breeding Hens Against Newcastle Disease

종계군(種鷄群)의 Newcastle Disease에 대(對)한 면역상태(免疫狀態)에 관(關)한 연구(硏究)

The present study was undertaken to observe the immune status of breeding hens and laying hens against Newcastle disease (ND). The methods of extraction of hemagglutination inhibition (HI) antibody from egg yolk, the detection of HI antibody in egg albumen and the correlation between HI antibody titers in maternal sera and egg yolks were discussed. For the purposes of these experiments, 9 flocks of breeding hens and 16 flocks of laying hens immunized against Newcastle disease virus were investigated. The vaccination program of tested flocks was 3-3-3 or 4-4-4 in general. The results obtained are summerized as follows: Freezing-thawing was the best method far antibody extraction from egg yolk for HI test. The HI antibody against NDV was found in egg albumen (geometric mean, 4.5), but lower than that found in egg yolk (32.1). The geometric mean of HI antibody titers of egg yolks (84.1) was higher than that of maternal sera (68.4) and day-old chicken sera (25.3). There was correlation between HI antibody titers of maternal sera(Y) and those of egg yolks(X). The coefficient correlation was r=0.63, and the line of regression of Y on X was $\hat{Y}$=35.91+0.35X.