It is understood that virus strains used to vaccinate chickens against herpes in Australia have recombined to form an infectious virus. Veterinary scientists at the University of Melbourne this week reported that attenuated vaccines have recombined to form two new strains of the ILTV (Infectious laryngotracheitis) virus they were intended to protect against.

The findings are related to three vaccines, two produced by pharmaceutical giant Pfizer and the third by Intervet. The two new diseases, called class 8 and class 9, are becoming more prevalent in Australia. Animal Health professionals have warned the recombined virus is already more common than previous strains of the virus.  

The Melbourne researchers’ findings were published in the journal Science. After testing the genomes of the new ILTV strains the researchers found they had been created by the three vaccines.

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