Temporal and spatial evolution of Infectious Bronchitis Virus in North Carolina

The industry collects enormous amounts of surveillance data on poultry pathogens, but only a fraction is used for scientific purposes or analyzed to make informative decisions. Improved knowledge related to the circulation and spread of pathogens affecting poultry is critical to enable both public health and veterinary health sectors. The information and knowledge generated from disease spread models, especially those including spatial and evolutionary dynamics, has the potential to help the introduction of more effective prevention and control strategies and directly improve animal health, welfare of poultry, and to increase the profits for poultry farmers. We compared and analyzed sequence data from IBV isolates between 2016 to 2019. From these flocks, we collected: farm location, flock size, total mortality, vaccination program, market age, market weight, etc, as metadata for subsequent analyses. We created a spatiotemporal map linking phylogeny, time, and location to track disease spatial spread and evolution. The data demonstrated that, in North Carolina, IBV spread North to South and East to West primarily. Poultry density, presence of wild birds, high humidity and proximity to crops were factors that promoted the spread of IBV. We will discuss how our model can be used to identifying newly and re-emerging strains.

Key Words: Infectious bronchitis virus, IBV, phylogeny, spatiotemporal.

Abstract presented at the International Poultry Scientific Forum during IPPE 2020.