Pathological manifestations of highly pathogenic and predominant Eimeria species in turkeys
Coccidiosis is caused by intra-cellular enteric protozoan parasites of the genus Eimeria. Eimeria is a gastrointestinal parasite with a complex life cycle involving an...
Protozoal management in turkeys
The two turkey protozoa that cause significant animal welfare and economic distress include various Eimeria species of coccidia and Histomonas meleagridis. For coccidia, oral...
Host and microbial biomarkers for intestinal health and disease in broilers
New tools can be used to determine the gut health status of animals and to predict animal performance or to make a decision whether...
Pirbright’s livestock coronavirus research
The Pirbright Institute is aware that misinformation regarding the Institute and its research is circulating on social media following an outbreak of a new...
In-ovo corticosterone alters body composition in 35 day old chi-cken meat birds
Increasing evidence suggests early-life exposure to maternal stress can permanently alter thedevelopment of an embryo. Such findings have significant application to the chicken meat...
Animal feed probiotics market expands as antibiotic-free nutrition gains momentum
The global animal feed probiotics market is undergoing a significant transformation as livestock producers increasingly seek sustainable, science-driven alternatives to conventional growth promoters. Valued...
Get the most from your diagnostic laboratory.
A field perspective.
You notice the
mortality is up this morning in one of your brooder houses. Your first thought
might be “better take some birds to...
Microbiological consequences of different housing systems for laying hens, with particular reference to Salmonella...
A significant proportion of human illnesses caused by Salmonella are linked to the consumption of contaminated eggs. In response, substantial government and private industry...
Incorporating an essential oil and saponin blend as part of an effective coccidiosis management...
Coccidiosis continues to be a top challenge in the poultry industry and growing evidence of reduced sensitivity to traditional anticoccidials like ionophores and chemicals...
Infectious bursal disease viruses may swap genetic material during infection
Live cell imaging has been used by researchers at The Pirbright Institute to reveal new information about how different strains of infectious bursal disease virus...
Testing day-old poults
When poults are received at a farm from the hatchery they should be good quality poults; namely, free from physical defects, actively looking for...
Coccidiosis control in broiler breeders with the use of vaccines by Aviagen®
Coccidiosis is a disease of the intestinal lining, produced by the invasion of the mucosal cells by a very prolific protozoan parasite of the...
Rapid in vitro antimicrobial screening assay against Campylobacter
Research was undertaken to adapt a multi-well antimicrobial assay as a fast and reliable method to screen large numbers of plant extract treatments against...
Profiling Salmonella serotypes through broiler processing
USPOULTRY and the USPOULTRY Foundation announce the completion of a funded research project at the University of Georgia in which researchers profiled Salmonella serotypes through broiler processing.
The...
Quality Control Audits of killed vaccination
Vaccination programs for breeders and egg layers include procedures with inactivated vaccines. Killed (inactivated) vaccines are used to prevent disease in the vaccinated bird...
Prevalence and antimicrobial resistance of thermophylic Campylobacters in poultry
Campylobacter spp. is a leading cause of foodborne diarrhea. The most common source of infection is contaminated food, mainly poultry meat.
The uncontrolled use of...
Engineering vaccines for multiple strains of IBV
In new work funded by a Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC) researchers at The Pirbright Institute and The Roslin Institute have published...
Non-antibiotic intestinal interventions
As the countdown towards implementation of the FDA’s Guidance for Industry 213 continues, interest in non-antibiotic intestinal interventions has increased. Earliest efforts in this...
Active and passive Salmonella surveillance systems
Two surveillance systems have been established in France for the monitoring of antimicrobial resistance (AMR) in Salmonella enterica subsp. enterica isolated from the agro-food...
Ability to detect Salmonella vs. Salmonella-Free in poultry processing
Poultry are sampled often for Salmonella during growout on the farm and throughout the processing plant. While on farm sampling is not currently a...
Bioavailable silicium as feed additive and its beneficial effects throughout poultry production
Silicium is a naturally occurring trace element that supports bone formation, collagen synthesis, and structural integrity in tissues and eggshell membranes. In poultry, dietary...
A diagnostic laboratory perspective for pathogen detection
Detection of infectious diseases can generally be broken down into laboratory detection of the pathogen or detection of the immune response to the pathogen....
Researchers characterize selected variant Avian Reovirus strains
USPOULTRY and the USPOULTRY Foundation announce the completion of a funded research project at the University of California, Davis, in which researchers looked to...
On-farm control of campylobacter
Campylobacteriosis, primarily caused by the consumption of contaminated chicken products, accounts for the majority of food poisoning cases in Europe and many other developed...
Nutritional strategies against pathogens in poultry
Salmonella Enteritidis and Campylobacter jejuni are the two major foodborne pathogens transmitted through poultry products. Since chickens are the reservoir hosts of these pathogens,...
Holistic view of intestinal health in poultry
Intestinal health is necessary to maintain efficient and sustainable gastrointestinal tract (GIT) physiology. The GIT has digestive, absorptive, metabolic, immunological and endocrinological functions.
This means...
Garlic allicin as a promising alternative to antibiotics in broilers
Introduction
The poultry industry is under increasing pressure to reduce antibiotic use due to antimicrobial resistance and consumer demand for safer products. Garlic (Allium sativum)...
Turkey arthritis reovirus. Diagnostic strategies
Avian reoviruses (ARVs). They are non-enveloped viruses of 70-80 nm size having an icosahedral symmetry. The viral genome has 10 segments of double stranded...
Concurrent infection of Histomonas meleagridis and Eimeria meleagridis in a turkey flock
Blackhead disease (histomoniasis) in turkeys is one of the protozoan diseases sporadically documented in commercial turkey production facilities. Histomoniasis may induce mild, moderate, or...
Detection and quantification of Gallibacterium anatis and Mycoplasma synoviae
Mycoplasma synoviae is one of the most common preconditions for secondary bacterial infections in poultry. It causes subclinical infections of the upper respiratory tract,...
Gut health in layers
To some extent gut health has not been a focus of commercial pullet and layer flocks unless the problem contributed to a significant mortality...
How to guard your hatchery against biosecurity threats
Biosecurity, by simple definition, is a set of procedures undertaken to limit the spread of infectious pathogens to a susceptible population. It is, however,...
Influenza antibodies made by Pirbright reduce disease in chickens
Scientists at The Pirbright Institute have engineered synthetic antibody
molecules that can be administered to poultry to reduce the symptoms of Influenza, as well as...
Research shows nutritional effects of Coccidiosis vaccination
A funded research project on Coccidiosis was completed at the University of Arkansas in Fayetteville, Arkansas, that shows the nutritional effects of coccidiosis vaccination.
Project...
Gut health in poultry production: why, what and how
Gut health has become a dominant topic in the global poultry industry. But why did the topic emerge to become so important to the...
Wooden Breast Disease
The emergence of Wooden Breast Disease in commercial broiler chickens has been associated with significant economic loss in the poultry industry resulting from severe...
Obtaining the most benefit from an anticoccidial sensitivity test
The poultry industry has been using the same anticoccidial drugs for the prevention of coccidiosis for several decades. The last approval of a new...
Female persistency post-peak. Managing fertility and production
INTRODUCTION
Managing breeding stock fertility and egg production is critical to achieving good breeder production and welfare. However, maintaining persistent egg output and hatchability remains...
The relationship between sperm function and diet – Toms are what they eat
It is well known that cryopreserved semen could be used to regenerate commercial or research poultry lines; however, fertility rates from poultry semen frozen...
Prevention and control of biofilm in water line systems as part of biosecurity protocols
This paper does not address
the situations in which the microbiological quality of the water
has been compromised from the beginning; rather, this paper addresses how
drinking...
Use of comparative genomics to identify vaccine candidates for Campylobacter Jejuni
Interventions to control and reduce the incidence of Campylobacter jejuni colonization in poultry is important in order to reduce the burden of foodborne illness in humans....
Chlamydia spp. detected in poultry in Piedmont, Italy
Chlamydia spp. are agents of re-emerging infections in poultry worldwide and deserve attention from a public health perspective due to the well-known zoonotic nature...
Managing coccidiosis in birds raised without antibiotics
For poultry producers to make a profit they must have healthy, uniform sized birds, make sure there are no real or assumed human health...
Macroscopic lesion scoring correlates with gut morphology changes in a newly developed dysbacteriosis model
Conventional broilers often experience intestinal problems between 20 and 30 days of age, caused by a microbial imbalance in the gut, which is referred...
How Marek’s disease may directly affect the chicken immune system
Marek’s disease virus (MDV) causes disease in chickens and is estimated to cost the global poultry industry up to US $2 billion each year.
In...
Mycoplasma Synoviae, a technical update
Mycoplasma are the smallest free-living organisms both in size and number of genes, and unlike many other bacteria, they do not have a cell...
Monitoring of IBV circulation and prevalence
Infectious bronchitis (IB) is one of the most common viral diseases in chicken production worldwide and IB virus (IBV) is considered the most contagious...
Boosting the cell-mediated immunity in chickens post-hatch via pre-hatch delivery of nucleic acids
Respiratory virus infections such as Avian Influenza, infectious laryngotracheitis and infectious bronchitis lead to high morbidity and mortality in chickens globally.
Given the limitations...
Biosecurity, before the beginning…
Almost all of us, the poultry people, know what biosecurity is about. For the investors, it means spending lots of money to prevent disasters,...
How a single Avian Influenza protein can increase period of infection
New research led by scientists at The Pirbright Institute has shown how an Avian Infuenza a virus protein, called PB1-F2, is able to shut...
How Necrotic Enteritis affects animal’ welfare and performance
Necrotic Enteritis (NE) affected flocks have poor enteric health and nutrient digestibility leading to decreased performance and increased excretion of nutrients.
Evidence suggests that...
The ABCs of CDT (Clostridial Dermatitis of Turkeys)
Clostridial Dermatitis of Turkeys (CDT), also referred to as Cellulitis, remains a major disease issue across all geographic regions of the US; the annual...
Avian influenza diagnostics in foxes provide valuable addition to mammal surveillance
Research by Wageningen Bioveterinary Research (WBVR) and the Dutch Wildlife Health Centre (DWHC) shows that foxes in the province of Friesland can become infected...
Increasing standardization in real-time PCR diagnostics
How to use it with a modular system and its benefit to laboratory throughput.
The IDEXX RealPCR™ real-time PCR reagents aim to provide a new...
Managing CO2 and fresh air to optimise hatchability
Last year I was invited to a layer hatchery that was reporting slightly lower hatchability than its sister hatcheries, despite using eggs from the...
Key global health issues in cage-free and organic laying hens
In USA and Europe there has been a growth in cage-free, free range, and organic production over the last 10 years.
The percentage of all...
First-Ever Report of antimicrobial ase across U.S. broiler chickens and turkeys
Dramatic antimicrobial usage changes and improved antimicrobial stewardship.
The new report shows dramatic reductions of turkey and broiler chicken antimicrobial use over a five-year timeframe....
A new view of how class I molecules fight diseases
Classical class I molecules of the major histocompatibility complex (MHC) play crucial roles in defence against viruses.
The class I molecules bind pieces of protein...
Vaccination of turkey breeders to control Salmonella
Salmonella continues to be a top food safety concern for the turkey industry, the USDA, and the consumer. Salmonella bacteria are the most frequently...
The Omics revolution – Implications for animal production
What does Omics mean?
Omics is a term that refers to the recently developed high throughput technologies that include genomics, functional genomics (transcriptomics), proteomics, and...
A new poultry research center at the University of Bristol
A state-of-the art poultry research centre offering specialist, industry-focused research into both laying hen and broiler health, welfare, behavior and productivity has recently been...
Researchers develop method for making new types of vaccines
USPOULTRY and the USPOULTRY Foundation announce the completion of a funded research project at the U.S. National Poultry Research Center, Southeast Poultry Research Laboratory in Athens,...
A multidisciplinary research approach on Avian Influenza in Italy
The Avian Influenza epidemic of 2016-2017 had been the largest in Europe in more than 10 years. The circulating virus was a Highly Pathogenic...
Chicken study probes resistance to food bug
Receiving gut microbes from resistant chickens does not lessen chickens’ susceptibility to bacterium that causes food poisoning.
Susceptible chickens became even more susceptible to Campylobacter,...
New predictive models for an integrated approach to combating avian influenza
Avian influenza is now recognized as both widespread and costly, with serious implications for animal and human health. Tackling it effectively requires targeted strategies...
Antibiotic-resistance: the contribution of the viruses in GIT microbiome
The GIT, or rather the gastro intestinal tract, is the organ of the all organism mostly colonized by the microbial population: it hosts more...
Infectious Coryza in vaccinated layers: are vaccines failing to protect?
During 2017 and 2018 Infectious Coryza was detected in several commercial vaccinated egg layer flocks in California. The Avibacterium paragallinarum strains isolated from infected...
How do coccidiosis challenges influence lipid digestibility and energy utilisation?
Coccidiosis continues to be one of the most pervasive and economically detrimental diseases in commercial poultry production. Controlling this enteric disease is an even...
Investigating diseases affecting poultry production
Severe diseases such as highly pathogenic avian influenza and velogenic Newcastle disease are still a concern for poultry producers and government agencies alike. Companies...
Footpad dermatitis in market turkey hens. Bird density and bedding material relationships
Lameness
and poor footpad condition can be major issues for meat-type poultry resulting
in their decreased well-being and decreased productivity. A large body of
research exists for...
Comparing two ELISA kits
Here a comparison of two ELISA kits as been made to assess their efficicacy.
Recombinant turkey herpesvirus vaccines (rHVT) are being widely used for...
The challenges and future of poultry diagnostics
A review of the past helps to frame the future of poultry diagnostics. In the United States, the Land-Grant universities provided a fertile environment...
Immune system and nutrition: the balance between immunity and growth in modern broiler crosses
Immune activation is the first stage of the immune response necessary to protect the body. It is accompanied by significant metabolic costs and inflammation....
Future of coccidiosis management in turkeys
Coccidiosis is a disease that is caused by protozoan parasites that develop within the intestine of most domestic and wild animals and birds. Coccidia...
The Salmonella initiative
An enduring challenge and reputational issue for the egg industry is caused by the presence of Salmonella enterica serovars (particularly some Typhimurium serotypes), which...
Characterizing litter mite communities. Applications of DNA barcoding for management strategies
The use of DNA barcoding can facilitate rapid biodiversity assessments of fastidious taxa - litter mite communities - by delineating species using molecular operational...
Pathogenesis of egg infections by salmonella – Second Part
Early protection has been demonstrated after primary live vaccine administration early post-hatch but this effect is serotype-specific, while cross-protection between some serotypes has been...
Practical guide for evaluating day-old chick quality: key standards and health monitoring
Evaluating the quality of day-old chicks (DOC) is crucial for successful poultry production. This practical guide outlines the key physical indicators, health factors, and...
Investigation of nutritional diseases at the veterinary diagnostic lab
Here below the role the veterinary diagnostic laboratory can play in helping to confirm nutritional diseases in a flock has been described. Regardless issues...
Research reveals method to improve Escherichia coli vaccines
A funded research project at the University of Georgia in Athens, Ga. was completed, in which researchers revealed a method to improve Escherichia coli...