To get sick or not to get sick—Trichomonas infections in two Accipiter species from Germany

Trichomonosis caused by the flagellate Trichomonas gallinae is one of the most important avian diseases worldwide. The parasite is localised in the oesophageal area of its host and mainly infects pigeon and dove species. During the last decade, a host expansion to passerine birds occurred, making the disease a potential threat for passerine predators as naïve host species. Here, we investigated the effect of the parasite on two Accipiter species in Germany which show a comparable lifestyle but differ in prey choice, the Northern goshawk (Accipiter gentilis) mainly hunting pigeons and the Eurasian sparrowhawk (Accipiter nisus) mainly feeding on passerines. We genetically identified the parasite strains using the Fe-Hydrogenase gene as marker locus and compared the incidence of parasite presence and clinical signs of trichomonosis between nestlings of the two Accipiter species. In total, we identified 14 strains, with nine strains unknown so far. There was a higher strain diversity and prevalence of Trichomonas spp. in goshawks than sparrowhawks (42.4% vs. 21.2%) whereas sparrowhawks when being infected more often displayed clinical signs of trichomonosis than goshawks (37.1% vs. 6.1%). Even though sparrowhawks were mainly infected with the finch epidemic strain and genetic data indicated some variation between isolates, no correlation with virulence could be detected. All in all, goshawks seem to be better adapted to Trichomonas infections, whereas to sparrowhawks, this is a novel disease with more severe manifestations, from individual morbidity to a higher risk of population decline caused by trichomonosis.

SOME ASPECTS OF VETERINARY AND SANITARY EXAMINATION OF WILD DUCK MEAT IN SARCOCYSTOSIS

Now hunting for wild animals and birds is widespread in the Russian Federation. However, the veterinary and sanitary examination was not fully elaborated for a number of parasitic diseases, in particular for sarcocystosis of ducks. It is one of the most widespread avian diseases and it is increasingly being encountered by biologists, hunters and veterinarians. The article presents parameters for evaluating the meat of clinically healthy ducks and those infected with sarcocysts. The results obtained allow us to conclude about the prevalence and the need to improve the veterinary and sanitary assessment of meat and the system of preventive measures for sarcocystic invasion. Key words: sarcocystosis, hunting, ducks.

Indigenous chicken "Kolonto" and food security in Gaya

This study was initiated to characterize the economic profitability of the breeding of the local chicken "Kolonto" in the Gaya department. A survey was conducted in 15 localities in the 6 communes of the Gaya department. The results showed that 29% of "Kolonto" local chicken keepers are women. The price of local chicken "Kolonto" varies between 4 to 8 USD according to 50% of producers. This economic gain, linked to the sale of local chicken, allows producers to make family expenses and meet their health care needs. Thus, the breeding of local chicken "Kolonto" contributes greatly to household food security and community resilience. However, the breeding of "Kolonto" chicken ecotype is between many constraints whose main one is diseases (59.3%). It is clear that the development of the sector necessarily involves strengthening surveillance of avian diseases, combined with veterinary monitoring and supervision of producers.

Application of CRISPR/Cas9 in Understanding Avian Viruses and Developing Poultry Vaccines

Clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats associated protein nuclease 9 (CRISPR-Cas9) technology offers novel approaches to precisely, cost-effectively, and user-friendly edit genomes for a wide array of applications and across multiple disciplines. This methodology can be leveraged to underpin host-virus interactions, elucidate viral gene functions, and to develop recombinant vaccines. The successful utilization of CRISPR/Cas9 in editing viral genomes has paved the way of developing novel and multiplex viral vectored poultry vaccines. Furthermore, CRISPR/Cas9 can be exploited to rectify major limitations of conventional approaches including reversion to virulent form, recombination with field viruses and transgene, and genome instability. This review provides comprehensive analysis of the potential of CRISPR/Cas9 genome editing technique in understanding avian virus-host interactions and developing novel poultry vaccines. Finally, we discuss the simplest and practical aspects of genome editing approaches in generating multivalent recombinant poultry vaccines that conform simultaneous protection against major avian diseases.