Infectious bursal agent vaccination of chicks from infectious bursal agent-vaccinated dams.

Chicks from infectious bursal agent-vaccinated broiler breeders were vaccinated with a commercial infectious bursal agent vaccine at intervals after hatching. Bursas from some of these chicks were examined for infectious bursal agent-specific fluorescence four days after vaccination and bursas from others were examined for histological lesions of infectious bursal disease 21 days after vaccination. Serological studies were conducted to determine if active immunity to infectious bursal agent followed vaccination. Chicks failed to develop immunity if their levels of maternally-derived serum neutralizing antibody were in excess of approximately log(2) 7 at the time of vaccination. When antibody titres fell below this level, vaccination usually resulted in infectious bursal agent virus replication in the bursa and consequential bursal damage but was followed by development of active immunity.