Bacterial Detection and Recovery From Poultry Litter

The level of pathogens in poultry litter used for raising broiler chickens is critical to the overall health of a broiler chicken flock and food safety. Therefore, it is imperative that methods used for determining bacterial concentration in litter are accurate and reproducible across studies. In this perspective, we discuss the shortcomings associated with current methods used for bacterial quantification and detection from litter and assess the efficacy of one method for pathogen and commensal (Campylobacter, Salmonella, Escherichia coli, and Enterococcus spp.) recovery. The limit of quantitation and detection for this method differed between pathogens, and the recovery rate (∼138–208%) was higher for Salmonella, E. coli, and Enterococcus compared to Campylobacter (24%). Our results suggest that pathogen recovery from litter is highly variable and pathogen concentrations need to be reported in dry weight before comparisons can be made between studies.

Infectious Bronchitis: A Moving Target for Commercial Poultry Industry

The poultry industry is one of the most efficient and flourishing sectors of agriculture that not only provides cheaper protein (eggs, meat) but also contributes heavily to the country's economy. There are several challenges faced by the poultry industry worldwide. Among all these challenges, disease management has been a major problem. Infectious bronchitis viruses (IBVs) are RNA-based viruses having high recombination and mutation rates. IBVs are gamma coronaviruses affecting the upper respiratory tract of chickens. Due to the high rate of mutation and recombination, IBVs are very difficult to properly diagnose and control. Some serotype IBVs are extremely resistant, causing high economic losses in the form of excessive use of antibiotics after the eruption of secondary pathogens and mortality, but some serotype IBVs are limited to morbidity losses only. There are some control methods for IBVs and practicing effective vaccination and biosecurity measures is highly recommended. Exposure of IBVs to chicken flock postulates gateway to secondary pathogens, which also pass on to coming generations. This review paper provides updated research tools and methods to diagnose and control IBVs.

Morphological and Immunohistochemical Examination of Lymphoproliferative Lesions Caused by Marek’s Disease Virus in Breeder Chickens

Marek’s disease is widely controlled by vaccination programs; however, chickens are not totally protected, especially immediately after the vaccination when a strong challenge could interfere with the effectiveness of vaccination in the absence of proper biosecurity practice. This case report describes the occurrence of Marek’s disease (MD) observed in a breeder chicken flock reared southeast of Sicily. MD outbreak occurred from 32 to 47 weeks with an increase in weekly mortality rate (+0.4–0.6%). Overall, mortality rate related to Marek’s disease was about 6% at the end of the cycle. Carcasses of chickens found during the occurrence of disease underwent necropsy, and tissues were collected to confirm the infection. Gizzard, cecal tonsil, intestine, spleen and tumor mass were collected and analyzed from a carcass of one hen, 32 weeks old and apparently asymptomatic. Multiplex real-time PCR performed on spleen tissues detected the presence of MD virus pathogenic strain. Macroscopic and microscopic evaluation of the rest of the samples confirmed the neoplastic disease. Moreover, the immunophenotype of the tumor cells was identified as CD3 positive by immunohistochemical (IHC) staining. The vaccinated flock had become rapidly infected with the MD virus, which proves that the challenge of the MD virus was too strong in the rearing house at the beginning of the cycle, causing the outbreak.

Village Chicken Flock Characteristics and Performances in Western Amhara, Ethiopia

Methodology: The study was carried out to generate baseline information on village chicken flock characteristics and production performances in South Achefre, Banija and Fagita Lekoma districts of Western Amhara, Ethiopia Multi-stage sampling procedures were employed to select the study villages and respondents and then nine villages were selected purposively. The 180 participants were chosen by random sampling techniques for qualitative and quantitative research. Data were collected by individual survey using open data kit. The collected data were analyzed using General Linear Model (GLM) of SAS software version 9.1 and Duncan Multiple Range Test (DMART) was also used to locate treatment means that were significantly different. Result From the flock composition the Hen contributes the highest proportion (39.2%) followed by Chicks (31.2%). Mean sexual maturity of local Hen and Cock was 24.95 ± 0.269 and 23.56 ± 0.36 weeks, respectively. Mean egg production performance of local chickens in the study area was 14.89 ± 0.36 per clutch with a clutch length of 23.98 ± 0.61 and 2.47 ± 0.07 clutch cycle per year. Conclusion The production performance of indigenous chicken and their survival performance in the study area are low to medium. Therefore, in order to improve production and survival performance, appropriate interventions in terms of supplementary feeding, selection and disease control are important strategies.

Detection and Molecular Characterization of a Natural Coinfection of Marek’s Disease Virus and Reticuloendotheliosis Virus in Brazilian Backyard Chicken Flock

Marek’s disease virus (MDV) and the reticuloendotheliosis virus (REV) are two of the primary oncogenic viruses that significantly affect chickens. In Brazil, there have been no previous published reports on the presence of field REV alone or in coinfection. This retrospective study analyzes samples from a case of lymphoproliferative lesions from a backyard chicken flock. MDV and REV were detected by PCR and classified as MDV1 and REV3, respectively, through sequencing and phylogenetic analysis based on the glycoprotein B (gB) genes for MDV and the polymerase (pol) and envelope (env) genes for REV. Real-time PCR reactions were performed for MDV to rule out the presence of the Rispens vaccine strain. This is the first report of the presence of REV in coinfection with a MDV clinical case in Brazil and the first molecular characterization of REV in South America. This study highlights the importance of molecular diagnosis for REV and MDV in poultry. In addition, this study highlights the distribution of these two viruses worldwide and the latent risk of them solely or in coinfection to this part of the world.

Complete Genome Sequence of a Class I Newcastle Disease Virus Strain Isolate from a Breeding Chicken Flock in Sichuan, China

A Newcastle disease virus (NDV) strain, APMV-1/Chicken/China(SC)/PT3/2016, was isolated from asymptomatic chickens at a breeding farm in China. The PT3 strain has a genome length of 15,198 nucleotides and is classified as subgenotype 1b of class I.