Abstract
Histomoniasis, commonly known as blackhead disease, is a parasitic disease in poultry caused by the protozoan Histomonas meleagridis. The availability of various compounds for chemotherapy in the 1970s resulted in the successful control of blackhead disease. Since the ban of antihistomonal drugs in the European Union, the disease has re-emerged, resulting in up to 100% mortality in turkey flocks. This has renewed the interest of scientists with numerous publications focusing on prophylactic strategies. This review summarizes the literature on the preventive and curative options for the control and treatment of histomoniasis. Two main approaches to the prophylaxis of the disease were found, which included chemotherapies and plant substrate products. Histostat-50 and paromomycin were the only available drugs that showed antihistomonal activity despite some concern about their threat to human health and antibiotic resistance. None of the plant substrate products provided potential protection to birds against blackhead disease. The use of attenuated histomonads could be an alternative for the prevention of the disease, but the production of this vaccine prototype is still challenging due to advanced technique requirements.
Highlights
Histomoniasis, commonly known as blackhead disease, is a parasitic disease in poultry caused by the protozoan Histomonas meleagridis
Histomoniasis, known as blackhead disease, histomonosis, or infectious enterohepatitis, is a parasitic disease caused by the protozoan Histomonas meleagridis, and was first described by Cushman (1893)
The standards for drug usage differ between regions, and in many cases, drugs are used without sufficient scientific evidence of their efficacy. Another factor complicating the treatment of histomoniasis was the finding that a strain of H. meleagridis was partially resistant to nitarsone, the only approved prophylactic antihistomonal in the U.S (Abraham et al, 2014)
Summary
Histomoniasis, known as blackhead disease, histomonosis, or infectious enterohepatitis, is a parasitic disease caused by the protozoan Histomonas meleagridis, and was first described by Cushman (1893). The standards for drug usage differ between regions, and in many cases, drugs are used without sufficient scientific evidence of their efficacy Another factor complicating the treatment of histomoniasis was the finding that a strain of H. meleagridis was partially resistant to nitarsone, the only approved prophylactic antihistomonal in the U.S (Abraham et al, 2014). Arsenical residue was recently found in the livers of roxarsone-treated chickens resulting in the withdrawal of this substance from the U.S market (Kawalek et al, 2011) This situation has led H. meleagridis to become of renewed scientific interest, with a number of recent studies (Figure 1) focusing on different prophylactic strategies including the use of chemotherapy drugs such as arsenical, synthesized nitroheterocylic compounds, and anthelmintics (van der Heijden, 2009). The focus of this review is on prophylactic and therapeutic options for the control and treatment of histomoniasis in birds including chemotherapeutic drugs, plant substrate products, and vaccinations in the U.S and the E.U
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