the new age. cytokines as vaccine adjuvants

The poultry broiler industry is growing in size, with an annual production of approximately 40 billion birds worldwide. One of the major problems faced by the poultry industry is a loss of productivity due to disease, requiring prudent health management1. Birds are reared under intensive conditions that contribute to infection by pathogens; therefore, prevention of infection through effective vaccination is vital to minimize infectious disease in poultry. In-feed antibiotics have been used extensively to overcome infection and to maintain the health status of animals2. However, the long-term use of in-feed antibiotics, particularly those used in human medicine, has raised many issues by consumers regarding the emergence of antibiotic resistant bacteria and the link to humans via the food chain3. The move away from use of in-feed antibiotics critically increases the emphasis on the use of more effective vaccine strategies.

The use of veterinary vaccines has somewhat different requirements than the use of human vaccines. One of the limitations of veterinary vaccines is cost. Vaccines, particularly for poultry, must be cost-effective, particularly when they are required on a large scale of tens of billions of doses annually. Therefore, veterinary adjuvants must also be designed based on the economics of immunization