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Anticoccidial Vaccination Is Associated with Improved Intestinal Health in Organic Chickens

SIMPLE SUMMARY: In recent years, the number of organic chicken farms has increased. Chickens can be infected by single-cell parasites, coccidia, which cause lesions in the lining of the intestine leading to poor growth and sometimes death (coccidiosis). This infection can also lead to overgrowth in...

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Autores principales: Jansson, Désirée S., Höglund, Johan, Bagge, Elisabeth, Jinnerot, Tomas, Kaldhusdal, Magne
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: MDPI 2022
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9321215/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/35878364
http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/vetsci9070347
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author Jansson, Désirée S.
Höglund, Johan
Bagge, Elisabeth
Jinnerot, Tomas
Kaldhusdal, Magne
author_facet Jansson, Désirée S.
Höglund, Johan
Bagge, Elisabeth
Jinnerot, Tomas
Kaldhusdal, Magne
author_sort Jansson, Désirée S.
collection PubMed
description SIMPLE SUMMARY: In recent years, the number of organic chicken farms has increased. Chickens can be infected by single-cell parasites, coccidia, which cause lesions in the lining of the intestine leading to poor growth and sometimes death (coccidiosis). This infection can also lead to overgrowth in the intestine of a bacterium, Clostridium perfringens, that may cause further damage (necrotic enteritis). Prevention is often achieved by adding substances in the feed that will slow down the development of parasites and bacteria, but this is not allowed in organic farming. The aim of this study was to investigate if vaccination against coccidia can prevent these diseases in organic chickens. Vaccinated chickens developed milder gut lesions, had fewer and less damaging C. perfringens, and had similar or higher body weight compared to unvaccinated chickens six weeks after vaccination. No deaths from coccidiosis or necrotic enteritis occurred among vaccinated chickens while some unvaccinated chickens died from these diseases. We conclude that vaccination against coccidia benefits organic chickens. This study provides knowledge supporting further development of the organic chicken industry. The results are also of relevance to the management of coccidiosis and necrotic enteritis in conventional broilers. ABSTRACT: Eimeria spp. and Clostridium perfringens (CP) are pathogens associated with coccidiosis and necrotic enteritis (NE) in broiler chickens. In this study we evaluated the effect of anticoccidial vaccination on intestinal health in clinically healthy organic Ross 308 chickens. On each of two farms, one unvaccinated flock (A1 and B1) was compared to one vaccinated flock (A2 and B2) until ten weeks of age (WOA). Faecal oocysts were counted weekly, and species were identified by PCR (ITS-1 gene). Lesion scoring, CP quantification and PCR targeting the CP NetB toxin gene were performed at three, four, and six WOA and chickens were weighed. Necropsies were performed on randomly selected chickens to identify coccidiosis/NE. Oocyst shedding peaked at three WOA in all flocks. Later oocyst shedding (E. tenella/E. maxima) in unvaccinated flocks at 5–7 WOA coincided with coccidiosis/NE. Although results differed somewhat between farms, vaccination was associated with lower intestinal lesion scores, reduced caecal CP counts, lower proportions of netB-positive CP, lower body weight at three–four WOA, and similar or slightly increased body weight at six WOA. In conclusion, the intestinal health of organic broilers can benefit from anticoccidial vaccination when oocyst exposure levels are high.
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spelling pubmed-93212152022-07-27 Anticoccidial Vaccination Is Associated with Improved Intestinal Health in Organic Chickens Jansson, Désirée S. Höglund, Johan Bagge, Elisabeth Jinnerot, Tomas Kaldhusdal, Magne Vet Sci Article SIMPLE SUMMARY: In recent years, the number of organic chicken farms has increased. Chickens can be infected by single-cell parasites, coccidia, which cause lesions in the lining of the intestine leading to poor growth and sometimes death (coccidiosis). This infection can also lead to overgrowth in the intestine of a bacterium, Clostridium perfringens, that may cause further damage (necrotic enteritis). Prevention is often achieved by adding substances in the feed that will slow down the development of parasites and bacteria, but this is not allowed in organic farming. The aim of this study was to investigate if vaccination against coccidia can prevent these diseases in organic chickens. Vaccinated chickens developed milder gut lesions, had fewer and less damaging C. perfringens, and had similar or higher body weight compared to unvaccinated chickens six weeks after vaccination. No deaths from coccidiosis or necrotic enteritis occurred among vaccinated chickens while some unvaccinated chickens died from these diseases. We conclude that vaccination against coccidia benefits organic chickens. This study provides knowledge supporting further development of the organic chicken industry. The results are also of relevance to the management of coccidiosis and necrotic enteritis in conventional broilers. ABSTRACT: Eimeria spp. and Clostridium perfringens (CP) are pathogens associated with coccidiosis and necrotic enteritis (NE) in broiler chickens. In this study we evaluated the effect of anticoccidial vaccination on intestinal health in clinically healthy organic Ross 308 chickens. On each of two farms, one unvaccinated flock (A1 and B1) was compared to one vaccinated flock (A2 and B2) until ten weeks of age (WOA). Faecal oocysts were counted weekly, and species were identified by PCR (ITS-1 gene). Lesion scoring, CP quantification and PCR targeting the CP NetB toxin gene were performed at three, four, and six WOA and chickens were weighed. Necropsies were performed on randomly selected chickens to identify coccidiosis/NE. Oocyst shedding peaked at three WOA in all flocks. Later oocyst shedding (E. tenella/E. maxima) in unvaccinated flocks at 5–7 WOA coincided with coccidiosis/NE. Although results differed somewhat between farms, vaccination was associated with lower intestinal lesion scores, reduced caecal CP counts, lower proportions of netB-positive CP, lower body weight at three–four WOA, and similar or slightly increased body weight at six WOA. In conclusion, the intestinal health of organic broilers can benefit from anticoccidial vaccination when oocyst exposure levels are high. MDPI 2022-07-09 /pmc/articles/PMC9321215/ /pubmed/35878364 http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/vetsci9070347 Text en © 2022 by the authors. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).
spellingShingle Article
Jansson, Désirée S.
Höglund, Johan
Bagge, Elisabeth
Jinnerot, Tomas
Kaldhusdal, Magne
Anticoccidial Vaccination Is Associated with Improved Intestinal Health in Organic Chickens
title Anticoccidial Vaccination Is Associated with Improved Intestinal Health in Organic Chickens
title_full Anticoccidial Vaccination Is Associated with Improved Intestinal Health in Organic Chickens
title_fullStr Anticoccidial Vaccination Is Associated with Improved Intestinal Health in Organic Chickens
title_full_unstemmed Anticoccidial Vaccination Is Associated with Improved Intestinal Health in Organic Chickens
title_short Anticoccidial Vaccination Is Associated with Improved Intestinal Health in Organic Chickens
title_sort anticoccidial vaccination is associated with improved intestinal health in organic chickens
topic Article
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9321215/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/35878364
http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/vetsci9070347
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