Advances in Poultry Cellular Immunity and Viral Disease Control

A special issue of Veterinary Sciences (ISSN 2306-7381). This special issue belongs to the section "Veterinary Microbiology, Parasitology and Immunology".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 26 August 2026 | Viewed by 1241

Special Issue Editor

College of Veterinary Medicine, Yangzhou University, Yangzhou 225012, China
Interests: poultry; virus; immunity

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Avian animals encompass a broad range of species such as chicken, duck and goose, playing a crucial role in global food security. Despite the considerable increase in poultry growth in recent years, the severe impact of viral diseases on production performance remains the most critical challenge to the sustainable development of the industry worldwide. In addition, in some cases, avian diseases can be transmitted to and cause diseases in humans.

Cellular immune responses play pivotal roles in the control of viral infection, especially T-cell-mediated protective immunity as indicated against viral diseases. Understanding cellular immunity to pathogens is crucial to the development of effective vaccines, interpreting disease pathogenesis, understanding immune protection mechanisms, and calibrating pandemic control measures. CD8+ T cells with cytotoxic activity can eliminate viruses by recognizing and killing virus-infected cells, whereas CD4+ T cells convey a multiplicity of functions key to coordinating and regulating antiviral immunity. After infection, activated CD4 and CD8 T cells eliminate infected cells, control the inflammatory milieu, and facilitate the optimization of the humoral response. Furthermore, T-cells have been shown to mediate protection in multiple animals of avian diseases, particularly in the absence of antibody-mediated protection. More recently, multiple studies have enhanced our understanding of the cellular immunity to pathogens in poultry.

This Special Issue is devoted to providing new insights into cellular immunity to viruses in poultry, exploring the immunity and pathogenesis of viral disease, mechanisms of protective immunity to viruses, and descriptions of novel tools and techniques. Knowledge provided by this Special Issue aims to facilitate the development of related biological products and the effective control of diseases in poultry.

We welcome the submission of original research, review and perspective articles on topics, including, but not limited to, the following:

  • T-cell activation and antigen presentation.
  • Phenotypes and functions of T-cell correlates with immune protection against viral disease in poultry.
  • Cell-mediated immunity in the context of viral diseases in poultry.
  • Novel and improved techniques to study cell-mediated immunity in poultry.
  • T-cell vaccine development in poultry.

Dr. Xiaoli Hao
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

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Keywords

  • poultry
  • cellular immunity
  • T cell
  • virus

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Published Papers (2 papers)

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Review

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24 pages, 915 KB  
Review
Current Knowledge on the Diagnostic Methods, Epidemiological Characteristics and Antiviral Strategies of Chicken Anemia Virus
by Yuqing Duan, Changchun Gao, Wenlan Cao, Xi Yang, Mengting Zuo, Xiongyan Liang, Yuying Yang, Xiaowei Fang, Kewei Fan and Lei Tan
Vet. Sci. 2025, 12(12), 1154; https://doi.org/10.3390/vetsci12121154 - 3 Dec 2025
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 910
Abstract
Chicken anemia virus (CAV) is a single-stranded circular DNA virus classified within the genus Gyrovirus of the family Anelloviridae. The disease caused by CAV is predominantly characterized by aplastic anemia, lymphatic atrophy, and concurrent immunosuppression. The widespread occurrence of CAV has led [...] Read more.
Chicken anemia virus (CAV) is a single-stranded circular DNA virus classified within the genus Gyrovirus of the family Anelloviridae. The disease caused by CAV is predominantly characterized by aplastic anemia, lymphatic atrophy, and concurrent immunosuppression. The widespread occurrence of CAV has led to significant economic detriment in the global poultry sector. This review offers a thorough overview of advancements in CAV, encompassing its genomic features and transmission, clinical signs and pathogenicity, diagnostic methodologies, prevalence, and current antiviral strategies, which will provide a valuable resource for future research and the effective management of this pathogen. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advances in Poultry Cellular Immunity and Viral Disease Control)
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Other

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15 pages, 2512 KB  
Brief Report
Newcastle Disease Virus Fusion and Haemagglutinin-Neuraminidase Gene Divergence: Implications for Vaccines
by Ravendra P. Chauhan and Boguslaw Szewczyk
Vet. Sci. 2026, 13(4), 368; https://doi.org/10.3390/vetsci13040368 - 10 Apr 2026
Abstract
Avian orthoavulavirus 1 (AOaV-1), commonly known as Newcastle disease virus (NDV), despite widespread vaccination, remains a significant threat to domestic chickens (Gallus gallus domesticus). Currently available live-attenuated NDV vaccines are derived from genotypes I and II lentogenic strains, whereas genetically divergent [...] Read more.
Avian orthoavulavirus 1 (AOaV-1), commonly known as Newcastle disease virus (NDV), despite widespread vaccination, remains a significant threat to domestic chickens (Gallus gallus domesticus). Currently available live-attenuated NDV vaccines are derived from genotypes I and II lentogenic strains, whereas genetically divergent velogenic strains predominantly caused recent NDV outbreaks. This study examined the extent of genotypic divergence between NDV vaccine strains and field strains using phylogenetic and multivariate analyses of two major antigenic and virulence-associated genes: fusion (F) and haemagglutinin-neuraminidase (HN). A total of 121 full-length NDV-F and 81 NDV-HN gene sequences, representing reported NDV genotypes, were downloaded from GenBank and analysed using maximum-likelihood (ML) phylogenetic trees and principal coordinates analysis (PCoA). The phylogeny revealed genotype-specific clustering for both genes, consistent with current NDV classification. NDV vaccine strains belonging to genotypes I and II formed distinct clades, segregated from the majority of NDV field strains, including velogenic or virulent NDV genotypes. The principal coordinates analysis of both genes further confirmed the phylogenetic clustering of NDV genotypes, indicating increased genomic heterogeneity. These findings suggest genetic segregation of divergent velogenic or virulent genotypes from lentogenic NDV vaccines, requiring biological experiments for determining their efficacy against field strains. This study highlights the importance of molecular surveillance of NDV to monitor its genomic diversity, which is crucial for developing strategies to combat NDV outbreaks in domestic chickens. This study provides an updated, NDV-glycoprotein-gene-based comparative analysis across reported NDV genotypes using phylogenetic and multivariate approaches. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advances in Poultry Cellular Immunity and Viral Disease Control)
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