A gel delivery system for coccidiosis vaccine: uniformity of distribution of oocysts.

A patented gel delivery system being used to deliver coccidiosis vaccine to poultry hatchlings is assessed. For effective vaccination, the coccidial oocysts must be uniformly suspended before exposure to birds. The uniformity of distribution within the gel was evaluated by incorporating a culture of chicken gut flora into gel sausages, placing sections of the sausage on culture plates, determining the appearance and distribution of bacterial colonies on culture plates after incubation, and verifying by cell counts. The uniformity of distribution of similarly prepared coccidial oocysts was verified by infecting birds with 40,000 Eimeria tenella oocysts delivered via the gel. Gel-inoculated birds were compared with control birds inoculated PO with 40,000 oocysts suspended in water by using cecal lesion scores. Both the appearance and colony counts of chicken gut flora from the gel were uniform. The standard deviation in the lesion scores for the gel-inoculated group and the water-inoculated groups were 0.51 and 0.69, respectively. The results indicate that a gel delivery system can provide uniform distribution of live organisms and vaccine agents to birds.