Year-end Sale % OFF 
Abstract
The aim of this study was to evaluate effects of microbial aerosols on immune function of ducks and shed light on the establishment of microbial aerosol concentration standards for poultry. A total of 1800 1-d-old cherry valley ducks were randomly divided into five groups (A, B, C, D, and E) with 360 ducks in each. To obtain objective data, each group had three replications. Concentrations of airborne bacteria, fungi, endotoxin in different groups were created by controlling ventilation and bedding cleaning frequency. Group A was the control group and hygienic conditions deteriorated progressively from group B to E. A 6-stage Andersen impactor was used to detect the aerosol concentration of aerobes, gram-negative bacteria, fungi, and AGI-30 microbial air sampler detect the endotoxin, and Composite Gas Detector detect the noxious gas. In order to assess the immune function of meat ducks, immune indicators including H5 AIV antibody titer, IgG, IL-2, T-lymphocyte transformation rate, lysozyme and immune organ indexes were evaluated. Correlation coefficients were also calculated to evaluate the relationships among airborne bacteria, fungi, endotoxin, and immune indicators. The results showed that the concentration of airborne aerobe, gram-negative bacteria, fungi, endotoxin have a strong correlation to H5 AIV antibody titer, IgG, IL-2, T-lymphocyte transformation rate, lysozyme, and immune organ indexes, respectively. In addition, when the concentration of microbial aerosol reach the level of group D, serum IgG (6–8 weeks), lysozyme (4 week) were significantly higher than in group A (P < 0.05); serum IL-2 (7 and 8 weeks), T-lymphocyte transformation rate, lysozyme (7 and 8 weeks), spleen index (6 and 8 weeks), and bursa index (8 week) were significantly lower than in group A (P < 0.05 or P < 0.01). The results indicated that a high level of microbial aerosol adversely affected the immune level of meat ducks. The microbial aerosol values in group D provide a basis for recommending upper limit concentrations of microbial aerosols for healthy meat ducks.
Highlights
The air in poultry houses is usually heavily contaminated by large quantities of airborne microorganisms, endotoxins and toxic gases (NH3, H2S), etc. (Nimmermark et al, 2009; CambraLópez et al, 2010; Lawniczek-Walczyk et al, 2013)
The concentrations of airborne aerobe, airborne fungi, airborne gram-negative, airborne endotoxin, and NH3 showed an overall trend of increase with the deteriorating of hygienic conditions, concentration of NH3 in each group was lower than the poultry harmless criterion (10 ppm, GB/T 18407.3–2001), and H2S was not found in all groups (Table 2; Yu et al, 2016)
H5 AIV Antibody Titer Under the condition without booster immunization, the H5 AIV antibody titer in serum of meat ducks of groups A and B reached a peak at week 5 (6.00 ± 1.00 and 6.33 ± 1.53, respectively), groups C, D, and E reached the peak at weeks 6, 7, and 8 (5.00 ± 1.00, 4.33 ± 1.53, and 3.00 ± 2.00, respectively; Figure 1)
Summary
The air in poultry houses is usually heavily contaminated by large quantities of airborne microorganisms, endotoxins and toxic gases (NH3, H2S), etc. (Nimmermark et al, 2009; CambraLópez et al, 2010; Lawniczek-Walczyk et al, 2013). The air in poultry houses is usually heavily contaminated by large quantities of airborne microorganisms, endotoxins and toxic gases (NH3, H2S), etc. They are a biologically active lipopolysaccharide that is a component of the outer membrane of gram-negative bacteria (Balasubramanian et al, 2012). In terms of toxic gases in animal house, ammonia and hydrogen sulfide are two well-known toxic components (Yao and Li, 2010). They can cause respiratory, eye diseases and even poisoning death (Teye et al, 2008; Yao and Li, 2010; Barrasa et al, 2012)
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary 
Published Version (
Free)
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
