Abstract
Problem statement: In a previous study, the exposure of broiler chicke ns to a weak Electromagnetic Field (EMF) reduced the severity of a coccidiosis infection. The birds were infected by gavage into the crop which was not representativ e for the field situation. Approach: The possible anticoccidial activity of EMF was investigated in b roiler chickens with a simulated, commercial coccidiosis infection. There was an uninfected and infected group not receiving further treatment. Another uninfected and infected group were subjecte d to EMF treatment. The infection was induced by adding to the litter a mixture of E. acervulina , E. maxima and E. tenella . EMF treatment lasted for 30 min day -1 ; the field strength within the cages was set to 5 µTesla rms. Results: Infection with Eimeria resulted in a transient reduction of growth perfor mance in the control chickens. Exposure to EMF counteracted the effect of infection on growth performance. EMF treatment had no effect on oocyst shedding. In the infected birds exposed to E MF, the lesion scores related to the three Eimeria species were generally lower than in the infected c ontrols. Due to cross-contamination, the uninfected birds also showed intestinal lesions, the severity being less than in the infected chickens. In the uninfected birds, EMF treatment also had reduced th e severity of the lesions. Conclusion: In this study EMF exposure protected against coccidiosis in broiler chickens. Consequently, EMF was considered as a possible alternative to anticoccidi al drugs.
Highlights
Coccidiosis is a common infectious disease in poultry, causing major economic losses
It has been reported that an electromagnetic field (EMF) causes stress at the cellular level, leading to the production of cytokines followed by an enhanced immune response (Simko and Mattsson, 2004)
The infection produced a decrease in feed intake in the control chickens during days 1-6 and 7-13 Post Infection (PI), but feed intake was left unchanged in their counterparts exposed to EMF
Summary
Coccidiosis is a common infectious disease in poultry, causing major economic losses. The complex life cycle of the Eimeria is associated with complex host immune responses to the parasite (Lillehoj, 1994; Lillehoj and Trout, 1996). The macrophages modulate the severity of the infection and the lymphocytes, in particular CD4+ T cells, act as inducer of an effective immune response. Both macrophages and lymphocytes are the source of cytokine production in the intestine during Eimeria infection and thereby modulate the immune response (Breed et al, 1997; Lillehoj, 1994; Lillehoj and Trout, 1996).
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