Infectious Bronchitis Virus Research Paper

The Infectious Bronchitis Virus, commonly known as IB, is an extremely contagious virus which is transmitted through aerosols, contaminated feed and water and contact with animals or material (Spc, Inc) IB infects chickens through the respiratory tract, kidney, gut and reproductive system (Encyclopedia of Life, 2013). Infectious Bronchitis can only infect chickens and is largely responsible for significant financial loss within the poultry industry (Encyclopedia of Life, 2013). By examining this virus, it will be known that Infectious Bronchitis has a large impact on farms all over the world, including Australia.

IB is caused by a coronavirus called Avian Infectious Bronchitis (Hub, 2013), meaning several viruses that infect the respiratory tract of chickens (Works, 2013). It varies genetically and phenotypically, and was recently reclassified to Gamma coronavirus, with a non-segmented, positive-sense single-stranded RNA genome. In other words, the genome is one piece of RNA or DNA (Shmoop, 2013), and can immediately be translated by the host cell and directly cause infection, though it may be less infectious than the
IB was first reported by Cumming in 1962. Earlier studies were shown to have explored the effects of IB on egg quality after infection. It became identified that when a hen’s reproductive system is infected, the shells of the hen’s eggs became rough and deformed, and the egg whites became watery (Extension, 2013). Infectious Bronchitis remains one of the top research priorities for commercial poultry worldwide as introduction of an exotic strain has increased the number of genetically diverse viruses that circulate on a single site (Ignajatovic & Sapats, 2000). Because of this, the poultry industry is suffering significantly each year due to financial costs (Chousalkar & Roberts,