Question

Gumboro disease in poultry is caused by which of the following?
A. Bacteria
B. Virus
C. Fungi
D. Eimeria

Answer 1

Hint: It is also known as Infectious bursal disease which is a highly contagious disease found in young chickens and turkey. It is characterised by immunosuppression and mortality for about 3 to 6 weeks of age. It is usually spread from infectious chicken to healthy chicken.

Complete answer:
Gumboro is an infectious bursitis and infectious avian nephrosis which is a highly toxic disease. It can be seen in domestic chickens and turkeys.
Infectious bursal disease is caused due to birnavirus that is most readily isolated from the bursa of Fabricius but may be isolated from the other organs. It is shed in the faeces of the infected chickens and are later transferred from house to house by fomites. It is very stable and difficult to eradicate from premises.
Two types of IBDV have been identified till now. The serotype 1 virus causes disease in chickens and antigenic variation can be there in their strains. Drift in the antigen is largely responsible for antigenic variation but it occurs only through genome homologous recombination. Serotype 2 strains infect chickens and turkeys but have not caused any such clinical disease in these hosts. IBDV has been identified in other species of penguin and antibodies of them have been found in wild avian species.
It usually infects immature b- lymphocytes and causes an immune suppression that leads to secondary infection in animals. It can be usually controlled by vaccination of breeder flocks to induce maternal immunity.

So, the correct answer is “Option B”.

Note:
Serology can be used to detect this disease in the presence of antibodies to IBDV in convalescent chicks. ELISA kits are commercially available and are often used to quantite IBDV antibodies. The presence of these antibodies does not always indicate the presence of the infection because most of the young chicks have this as maternal antibodies.