Infectious bronchitis

Abstract

Infectious bronchitis (IB) is caused by the avian coronavirus, infectious bronchitis virus (IBV), which is found worldwide. It is primarily a disease of chickens with all ages being susceptible to infection. This chapter offers detailed coverage of the history, etiology, pathobiology, epizootiology, diagnosis, and intervention strategies of IB. The clinical outcome of an infection in chickens depends on many variables such as the virus strain and type; sex and age of the chicken; immune status (vaccination, immune suppression, and maternally derived antibodies); coinfections; and environmental circumstances such as climate, dust, ammonia, and cold stress. Diagnosis of IB is based on the clinical history, lesions, seroconversion, IBV antigen detection by a number of antibody-based antigen capture assays, virus isolation, and detection of IBV RNA. Thorough diagnosis of IBV includes identification of the serotype or genetic type of the virus so that appropriate vaccines can be used.