Turkey (Meleagris gallopavo) Interleukin-8 (IL-8), functionally analogous to avian CXCLi2 (and closely related to CXCLi1), is a key pro-inflammatory chemokine that regulates heterophil chemotaxis and activation in response to infection and tissue injury. Produced by macrophages, epithelial cells, and other immune cells following bacterial, viral, or parasitic challenge, turkey IL-8 signals through CXCR1- and CXCR2-like receptors to promote recruitment of heterophils—the avian equivalent of neutrophils—to affected tissues. IL-8 is rapidly upregulated during economically significant turkey diseases such as avian influenza, hemorrhagic enteritis virus, Salmonella infection, Eimeria (coccidiosis), Clostridium infections, and Mycoplasma gallisepticum, where it contributes to early innate immune defense but may also drive inflammatory tissue damage if dysregulated. Elevated IL-8 expression in respiratory and gastrointestinal tissues serves as an important biomarker of mucosal immune activation and disease severity in commercial flocks. In research settings, turkeys serve as relevant models for avian respiratory and enteric disease pathogenesis, vaccine evaluation, and heterophil-driven inflammatory responses, and characterization of IL-8 enhances understanding of chemokine-mediated innate immunity and inflammatory regulation in poultry health and comparative immunology.