Elanco Animal Health and HIPRA have partnered to introduce two new vaccines to help control avian metapneumovirus in U.S. poultry. The collaboration provides producers with additional tools to manage this highly contagious respiratory disease.
U.S. poultry producers now have additional tools to combat avian metapneumovirus, a highly contagious and costly virus impacting turkeys, broiler chickens, and laying and breeding birds. With cold weather approaching around the country and birds becoming more susceptible to viruses during these colder months, Elanco Animal Health and HIPRA have introduced two avian metapneumovirus (aMPV) vaccines to help poultry producers manage this costly respiratory disease.
aMPV is a highly contagious respiratory disease affecting turkeys and chickens. It causes significant economic losses due to reduced egg production, increased mortality rates, and decreased performance in infected flocks. The virus primarily affects turkeys, with an estimated 60-80% of commercial turkey flocks nationwide impacted by aMPV; yet broilers and laying and breeding birds are also susceptible to the virus. Certain husbandry and ventilation tactics can help the outcome; however, vaccination is a critical tool to effectively control the virus.
“Avian metapneumovirus has led to devastating losses for many producers,” said Scott Gustin, U.S. Poultry Technical Leader at Elanco Animal Health. “The aMPV subtypes A and B were foreign to the U.S., and after seeing this virus spread now from coast to coast, it became clear that biosecurity was not going to be sufficient on its own to combat the virus. Vaccines became the clear solution to reduce the impact of this highly contagious respiratory disease.”
As a result, the vaccines, RESPIVAC® aMPV and HIPRAVIAR® TRT, manufactured by HIPRA, were introduced to select producers via an emergency import license earlier in 2025 through field trials. The field trials show significant improvement among vaccinated birds compared to the previous year.
“aMPV vaccination has been used successfully for many years outside the U.S., and we’re seeing those same successful results in our U.S. field trials,” said Martina Dardi, Poultry Global Technical Manager at HIPRA. “The combination of HIPRA’s worldwide experience with this virus and the proven performance for both vaccines can spare a lot of time in the fine tuning of vaccination plans and practices that are successfully in place globally.”
The partners noted that both RESPIVAC® aMPV and HIPRAVIAR® TRT remain available to producers via an emergency import license issued by USDA. Vaccine details include:
• RESPIVAC® aMPV – Protects broilers, layers and breeders from the highly contagious virus. The modified live vaccine is based upon subtype B, offering cross-protection against subtype A. Birds can be vaccinated at the hatchery, on the farm or during lay, via spray or drinking water. For prolonged immunity, chickens can be vaccinated every 9 weeks.
• HIPRAVIAR® TRT – Protects broilers, breeders and turkeys against aMPV infections. The vaccine is based upon subtype B, offering cross-protection against subtype A. HIPRAVIAR® TRT is the only inactivated vaccine with the same subtype, origin (chicken) and strain as the live vaccine, offering greater long-term protection.
