Category: Poultry

When it comes to protecting flocks from infectious bursal disease (IBD), poultry producers and veterinarians have several strategies available, including immune-complex vaccines that may be included in a rotation strategy with recombinant HVT-IBD vaccines.

Immune-complex vaccines provide unique attributes in the IBD protection toolbox. These vaccines contain an IBD virus vaccine coated by antibodies, which must first degrade before the vaccine virus is released in the bird, delaying the stimulate a robust immune response compared with classic live vaccines.

Often used in cases of high field-virus pressure, immune-complex vaccines are useful for “cooling down the house” and keeping the field pressure low for subsequent flocks, said Leticia Frizzo da Silva, DVM, PhD, senior principal scientist, Zoetis.

They do this by colonizing the bursa and blocking early replication of the field virus. The introduction and repeated use of immune-complex vaccines can repopulate a house with the vaccine virus, creating a “diluting” effect, she added.

Over time, this approach can replace the field virus to the point where the farm mostly has the vaccine virus.

Vector and live vaccine comparisons

Because of the way the immune-complex vaccine is manufactured, it cannot be immediately neutralized by maternally derived antibodies as conventional live vaccines can, said Frizzo da Silva.

This delayed release brings at least three major advantages:

1. The robust vaccine-induced active immune response reduces the high chance of neutralization of vaccine virus by maternal antibodies.
2. The onset of immunity is naturally adapted to when each individual bird is ready to respond, due to the active vaccine-induced immunity starting as passive immunity decreases.
3. The immunosuppression often seen with the use of conventional live vaccines is reduced.¹ Whether the birds are vaccinated in ovo or at day of age, the immune-complex vaccine gradually dissociates in the bird’s body and releases the live vaccine virus, which stimulates a robust immune response without being immediately neutralized by maternally derived antibodies.

Vectored IBD vaccines – based on herpesvirus of turkey (HVT) – and immune-complex vaccines have complementary roles. While vectored HVT-IBD vaccines cushion the bursa better and tackle clinical disease effectively, they cannot replace field virus to reduce the environmental load or lower the overall infection pressure in the long run. This makes rotation of the two approaches a sensible option, said Frizzo da Silva.

Options for different field scenarios

The IBD virus is genetically diverse, with seven different genogroups falling into classical virulent, antigenic variant and very virulent types.² Different field challenges can call for different immune-complex formulations.

A Zoetis vaccine based on the Winterfield 2512 classical virus strain is one such formulation, which has been tested against a high, early IBD challenge, she said.

Another alternative is an immune-complex vaccine based on the V877 IBD strain, which is also considered intermediate plus and distinctly categorized as Genogroup 7,² Frizzo da Silva added. This option brings a unique mix of efficacy and safety, based on additional research.

A rotation strategy of immune-complex and vector vaccines could offer an option for controlling IBD. In broiler chickens, immune complex vaccines based on the Winterfield 2512 strain and the V877 strain can be used, while the V877 strain can be used in layer chickens.

Reach out to your Zoetis representative to find out more.

[Excerpts of a poster presentation by Klao Runcharoon and colleagues, Department of Population Health, College of Veterinary Medicine, University of Georgia, during the 2024 annual conference of the American Association of Avian Pathologists]

Avian Pathogenic Escherichia coli (APEC) causes colibacillosis resulting in systemic or localized infections in poultry including airsacculitis, septicemia, pericarditis, perihepatitis, salpingitis, and cellulitis. Serogrouping based on the detection of somatic O-antigens is a useful tool to classify APEC and relate to disease pathogenicity. There are approximately 188 E. coli serogroups and the most common types associated with colibacillosis include O1, O2, and O78.

However, our APEC collection from avians diagnosed with colibacillosis in Georgia poultry populations has identified emerging serogroups with limited information on their pathogenicity. Therefore, the pathogenicity features of these emerging serogroups were evaluated using multiple approaches including the serum resistance assay, embryo lethality assay, and chick challenge assay.

We selected 10 novel APEC strains from our collection which included serogroups O25, O15, O91, O152, O161, O86, O88, O115, O62/O68 and O45. We tested their ability to grow in chicken serum in 96 well-plates. A bacterial suspension was added to the chicken serum and adjusted to a concentration of 106 colony-forming units (CFU/mL). Serum was removed from each well at 0 and after 4 hours incubation at 40◦C. The suspensions were diluted and plated and the CFU was determined after 24 hours of incubation. All selected APEC serogroups except O25 were resistant to serum.

For the assay, 12 day of age embryonic eggs were injected with 300-500 CFU/0.1 mL of each strain via the allantoic fluid. Embryos were candled daily for five consecutive days, and deaths were recorded. The results showed that the highest mortality (100%) was found for APEC serogroups O152 and O145, while O88 caused only 50% mortality. Further assessment of the pathogenicity in chicks was also performed using a chick challenge assay. Twelve one-day-old chicks per group were inoculated subcutaneously with 108 CFU/0.1 mL of the bacterial strain. Times of death and clinical scores were combined to give pathogenicity scores.

E. coli isolates that killed >50%, 10%-50%, and 0-10% of chicks were considered as virulent, moderately virulent, and avirulent, respectively. Analysis found that O15, O91, and O88 had significantly lower (p< 0.05) pathogenicity scores than the positive control group APEC O18. Serogroups O25, O152, O115, and O45 had numerically higher pathogenicity scores than the positive control group.

Overall, the novel APEC strains exhibited different degrees of pathogenicity in both in vivo and in vitro assays. Some strains showed high virulence in all assays while some were less virulent warranting further investigation of their pathogenicity in older birds to establish new protection plans against these emerging serogroups.

After moving down in July, average prices of chicken meat in Brazil in the wholesale market increased in August, reported Reuters. 

Price rises were linked to the demand, which was firm especially in the first fortnight of the month, and to the restricted supply in the domestic market.

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Editor’s note: This article is an excerpt from the Aviagen Group’s Decades of Breeding for Welfare & Sustainability Report and additional articles will follow. The Report is designed to demonstrate Aviagen’s commitment to genetic improvement of welfare and sustainability of broiler and turkey breeds. Plus, it covers much more like techniques to ensure robustness and new methods to improve selection and genetic progress. To read or download the complete report, click here.

Welfare and Sustainability Traits

Aviagen has a long history of incorporating welfare and sustainability measurements into its breeding program to drive progress (Figure 4).

The expansion to include turkey breeding programs has allowed sharing of resources and exchange of new ideas and techniques between the breeding programs.

Environmental Sustainability

Environmental sustainability has long been a core focus for Aviagen. Whilst increasing flock outputs through improvements in traits associated with weight, livability, egg and meat yield play a key role in this, the amount of feed a bird requires to develop and grow is key to the global footprint of poultry production. FCR is the single most important trait for reducing the environmental impact of poultry production (Jones, 2008).

The improvement seen in FCR within both broilers and turkeys has greatly reduced the carbon footprint of poultry meat and also reduced the amount of environmental pollutants associated with poultry production.

Figure 5a shows Aviagen calculations of the relative environmental impact of broiler production over time. Broiler genetics from 1972 had a 50% higher environmental impact than 2020 genetics and future genetics will have 10% lower carbon footprint by 2030 than the bird today, which is in line with the estimations made by Jones (2008).

Turkey genetics resulted in a 20% lower carbon footprint between 1977 and 2020, with an expected 10% improvement by 2030 because of improvements made in the breeding program (Figure 5b). These improvements of about 1% per year are primarily driven by genetic improvement of FCR.

For decades, intensive selection for improved FCR has resulted in a highly feed efficient animal that is far more sustainable than many alternative meat sources.

This can be seen in the evolution of the performance objectives published for the BUT6 and Ross® 308 (Figure 6).

Historically FCR was assessed by measuring feed consumption and weight of birds in individual pens. Since 2004 in broilers and 2006 in turkeys, Aviagen has pioneered the use of feed stations, which record individual bird feed intake using transponder identification within a group environment (Figure 7).

This allows the selection of birds with genes associated with improved feed efficiency while the birds are free to express natural behavior. The feed station technology has been highly successful and example of its importance can be seen in the 50% increase in testing capacity in the turkey breeding programs since 2018.

The feeding stations have also allowed the study of feeding behavior, which has shown that broilers and turkeys share the same structure of short-term feeding behavior, which is regulated by levels of satiety. This was also observed when comparing broilers, turkeys and ducks to cattle, pigs, dolphins and rats (Howie et al., 2010, Tolkamp et al., 2011). The correlations between feeding and drinking behavior traits with performance traits is low. There is a wide range of feed and drinking behavior strategies in the broiler and turkey populations, which is important for their adaptability to a wide range of environments and production systems. Individual bird FCR alongside livability, robustness and weight have jointly contributed to the significant improvements seen in flock FCR. 

Since 2014 in broiler and 2017 in turkeys, Aviagen has been applying genomic selection in its breeding programs. Genomic selection increases selection accuracy which results in greater rates of progress across traits. This has been particularly beneficial for FCR where it is not possible to measure the FCR of every individual and the selection accuracy of unmeasured birds is markedly improved thereby enhancing progress in the environmental sustainability of poultry production.

To read or download the complete report, click here.

China’s customs has banned direct or indirect import of poultry and related products from Poland from Friday, due to the outbreak of the highly pathogenic avian influenza subtype H5N1, reported Reuters. 

The agency said poultry products from Poland shipped on or after the announcement will be returned or destroyed while those shipped before will be quarantined and tested.

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US farm income will fall for a second consecutive year in 2024, but not as much as previously expected as prices of livestock and egg products boom and production expenses ease, Reuters reported, citing the US Department of Agriculture on Thursday.

Declining farm income could ripple across the rural economy in a presidential election year, as producers have become more cautious about making large asset purchases such as new machinery. Crop farmers are wrestling with corn and soybean prices hovering near four-year lows.

The estimated decline is less steep than the agency’s February forecast, which called for the largest recorded year-to-year drop in net US farm income in 2024 on rising farm expenses.

USDA now estimates this year’s net farm income, a broad measure of profitability in the agricultural economy, will hit $140 billion in 2024, down 4.4% or $6.5 billion from a year earlier.

Adjusted for inflation, net farm income in 2024 is forecast to drop by $10.2 billion, or 6.8%, from a year earlier.

In February, USDA forecast that net farm income would fall more than 25%, or nearly $40 billion, from a year earlier, a record year-over-year dollar drop.

USDA economists changed their estimates after gaining access to information unavailable for the previous forecast, such as the latest US farm census, said USDA Economic Research Service economist Carrie Litkowski, who leads the agency’s farm income team.

For example, fertilizer expenses are now expected to ease as crop farmers look to cut production costs. Meanwhile, cattle prices soared, dairy prices turned higher and the spread of avian influenza has led to supply constraints for eggs, Litkowski said.

In fact, cash receipts for egg sales this year are expected to jump about 35%, or $6 billion – the largest increase in the livestock and animal products group, USDA data shows.

“In February, we did not anticipate that egg prices were going to rise as much as they had,” Litkowski said.

5m Books, the publisher of the recently released book, Six Inches of Soil, which supports the massively successful film is taking part in Farm Africa’s current fundraising challenge by entering two of its own into a 500 km London to Paris cycling challenge. 

Jeremy Toynbee and Jonny Badley will be part of a larger Farm Africa team consisting of Gillian, Millie and CharloIe from vegetable grower Barfoots, Michelinstarred chef Paul Foster, and longstanding Farm Africa supporter, farmer Tim Jury.

Riding between 25 and 28 September, they will complete 500 km riding from the outskirts of London to the Arc de Triomphe on the Champs-Élysées in Paris, the iconic finishing point of the Tour de France.

Both Jeremy and Jonny used to cycle a reasonable amount but are definitely rather rusty now. Following them as they try to get in shape in time should be quite amusing.

The team is supporting Farm Africa, a charity that reduces poverty in eastern Africa by helping farmers grow more, sell more and sell for more.

Today, over half of the world’s extreme poor live in sub-Saharan Africa. The vast majority work in agriculture.

Working in Ethiopia, Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda and the Democratic Republic of Congo, Farm Africa is growing agriculture, protecting the environment and developing businesses in rural areas.

Here’s how a donation could help:

• £5 could help to buy 10kg of forage seeds, so that farmers can grow food for their livestock. 

• £11 could provide training to one woman in high-quality coffee production in Uganda.
• £16 could help to pay for a farmer to hire help to bring in his harvest.
• £22 could help to establish a forest products enterprise.
• £60 is enough to buy two local female goats for pastoralist women in Ethiopia.
• £100 could help to provide two farmers with the means to start a beekeeping business, including a hive, beekeeping equipment and a bee colony.

To support Jeremy and Jonny’s London to Paris cycle challenge and donate to Farm Africa please visit: hIps://www.givengain.com/project/jeremy-raising-funds-for-farm-africa-81422

Publishing Manager Alessandro Pasini said, “As a publisher of agriculture books we were delighted to throw Jonny and Jeremy under the bus to support this great cause when the idea came up in a meeting with the Farm Africa guys. 5m’s mission is to improve the health and happiness of the animals we farm and live with and to regenerate the world we farm and live in. SupporEng Farm Africa’s wonderful work with smallholder farmers unlocking the transformaEve potenEal of sustainable agriculture.”

Partnership Development Manager at Farm Africa, Louise Spearman, said: “We are incredibly grateful to 5m Books for taking on the London to Paris cycle ride in support of Farm Africa. Their dedication to our cause will make a significant impact, helping us provide farmers in eastern Africa with the tools and knowledge they need to build sustainable livelihoods. 100% of funds raised by 5m Books will go a long way in supporting communities to overcome challenges and secure a better future. We can’t thank them enough for their commitment and generosity!”

Firefighters succeeded on Wednesday in reducing the extent of a massive wildfire that blazed for two days and destroyed 20% of a forest in the Brazilian capital, cloaking the city in clouds of gray-white smoke, Reuters reported, citing officials who suspect that it may have been started by arsonists.

The National Forest of Brasilia is a conservation area that extends over 5,600 hectares of woodland that protects the springs that are the source of 70% of the city’s freshwater.

The fire broke out at the peak of the dry season when vegetation is parched and temperatures high allowing flames to spread fast.

“We have put out three of the four blazes and we hope to have the fire under control by the end of the day,” said Fabio dos Santos Miranda, who manages the forest.

“We are sure this was an environmental crime, but we haven’t confirmed if it was intentional or not,” he said in an interview, adding that three suspected arsonists were seen in the area where the fire started.

Firefighters struggled to contain the forest fire and stop it spreading to adjacent orchards where farmers grow tomatoes and flowers.

“We are working to protect the orchards, but the wind is blowing the fire towards them and the sparks fly a long way.” said fireman Major Godoy.

Emilia Vasconcellos, who raises cattle and chickens on a farm at risk of being caught in the blaze, said she thought people had set off the fire to clear land for themselves, but she had no evidence.

The forest was cut in size by almost half in 2022 to give way to urban development by the government of far-right former President Jair Bolsonaro, who reduced environmental controls and allowed deforestation to surge in the Amazon rainforest.

A record drought in the Amazon increased fires in the rainforest for the month of August to the highest level since 2010, government data showed on Sunday.

Last year’s rains came late and were weaker than usual because a weather pattern, known as El Nino, was supercharged by climate change, leaving the rainforest especially vulnerable to this year’s fires.