Unraveling frontiers in poultry health (part 1) – Mitigating economically important viral and bacterial diseases in commercial chicken and turkey production

Authors: FASINA, YEWANDE - North Carolina Agricultural And Technical State University; Suarez, David; RITTER, GEORGE - Poultry Business Solutions Llc; GERKEN, ELISE - Cooper Farms; FARNELL, YUHUA - Texas A&M University; WOLFENDEN, ROSS - Eastman Chemical Company; HARGIS, BILLY - University Of Arkansas

Submitted to: Poultry Science
Publication Type: Review Article
Publication Acceptance Date: 1/21/2024
Publication Date: 2/7/2024
Citation: Fasina, Y.O., Suarez, D.L., Ritter, G.D., Gerken, E.C., Farnell, Y.Z., Wolfenden, R., Hargis, B. 2024. Unraveling frontiers in poultry health (part 1) – Mitigating economically important viral and bacterial diseases in commercial chicken and turkey production. Poultry Science. 103(4). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.psj.2024.103500.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.psj.2024.103500

Interpretive Summary: The 2023 Poultry Science Association Animal Health symposium provided current perspectives on both field experiences and emerging research on economically important viral and bacterial diseases of poultry. Outcomes of this symposium included identifying the need to improve the prevention and control of avian influenza by investing in research geared towards optimizing vaccine efficacy. Trying to match the vaccine with the field strain is important to get optimal protection. Vaccination is not curently allowed for highly pathogenic avian influenza because of the effects on poultry trade, but interest is growing to use vaccination. Another serious disease, gangrenous dermatitis,which causes damage to the skin and can be severe enough to be life threatening still needs better control tools with the loss of antibiotics for use in poultry. Control of coccidia, a disease that can cause severe diarrhea, historically was controlled with antibiotics, but alternatives to antibiotics including live coccidia vaccines are showing promise at controlling infections and related diseases. It was emphasized that effective diagnosis of re-emerging turkey diseases (such as blackhead, fowl cholera, and coccidiosis) and emerging turkey diseases such as reoviral hepatitis, reoviral arthritis, Ornithobacterium rhinotracheale infection, and strepticemia require complementarity between investigative research approaches and production veterinarian field approaches.

Technical Abstract: The 2023 Poultry Science Association Animal Health symposium provided current perspectives on both field experiences and emerging research on economically important viral and bacterial diseases of poultry. The application of enteroids as in vitro models for studying disease pathogenesis was also discussed. Outcomes of this symposium included identifying the need to improve the prevention and control of avian influenza by investing in research geared towards optimizing vaccine efficacy. In this regard, efforts should focus on enhancing the relatedness of vaccine antigen and the field (challenge) virus strain and improving immunogenicity. It was also revealed that gangrenous dermatitis could be controlled through withholding or restricting the administration of ionophores during broiler life cycle, and that administration of microscopic polymer beads (gel) based-live coccidia vaccines to chicks could be used to reduce necrotic enteritis-induced mortality. It was emphasized that effective diagnosis of re-emerging turkey diseases (such as blackhead, fowl cholera, and coccidiosis) and emerging turkey diseases such as reoviral hepatitis, reoviral arthritis, Ornithobacterium rhinotracheale infection, and strepticemia require complementarity between investigative research approaches and production Veterinarian field approaches. Lastly, it was determined that the development of a variety of functionally-specific enteroids would expedite the delineation of enteric pathogen mechanisms and the identification of novel vaccine adjuvants.