Chicken Flocks Research Articles

Molecular Detection and Isolation of Chicken Astrovirus from Commercial Chicken Flocks of Kerala, India

Reduced productivity due to enteric infections in chickens is a very common challenge in the poultry industry of India. Various studies associated Chicken astrovirus (CAstV) as a common pathogen in commercial flocks exhibiting poor weight gain, stunted growth and visceral gout. However, no published report documented the detection of the virus from Kerala so far. Hence, this study was done to investigate the presence of CAstV in 50 broiler flocks from different parts of Kerala with clinical signs such as retarded growth, diarrhoea, and a mortality of 5 to 10 %. Out of the 50, five flocks were found positive for the virus by using the Reverse Transcriptase – Polymerase Chain Reaction (RT-PCR) method with the primers targeting the partial ORF1b gene of the viral nucleic acid. The viral presence was confirmed by isolation using embryonated chicken eggs (ECE), which produced notable alteration to the infected embryos. Nucleotide sequencing of the isolates revealed a high identity of up to 100 % with the other CAstV sequences retrieved from the NCBI database. The study confirms the first report of molecular detection and isolation of CAstV from the state of Kerala.

EVALUATION OF THE PREVALENCE MYCOPLASMA GALLISEPTICUM IN BROILER FARMS IN SAMARRA CITY.

This study was aimed to evaluate the extent of the spread for Mycoplasma gallisepticum in the broiler chicken flocks of the Samarra city. 202 samples were collected from eight meat chicken fields in the city of Samarra for the period from September to December 2022, as these samples showed respiratory symptoms. The collected specimens were dissected in order to obtain both the trachea and the air sacs; After isolating the causative agent on Pleuropneumonia - like organisms (PPLOs) medium, mycoplasma infection reached 32.2%. The result appeared in the form of colonies with a shape similar to that of a “fried egg.” The rates of mycoplasma infection at culture for each of the trachea were (41.1%), while in contrast to the air sac samples, which amounted to (22.1%). Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) results for the 16S rRNA gene also showed a positive result for Mycoplasma gallisepticum. The results were also disturbed by the appearance of respiratory signs, such as coughing and sneezing, along with the presence of ocular and nasal secretions. It was also noted that pathological changes were recorded in both the trachea and air sacs, represented by congestion of these organs.

Molecular characterization and phylogenetic analysis of infectious laryngotracheitis virus isolates from commercial chicken flocks in Turkey.

Infectious laryngotracheitis virus (ILTV) causes an acute and highly contagious respiratory disease in poultry. Live-attenuated vaccines are generally used to control and prevent infectious laryngotracheitis (ILT). However, these vaccines can revert to a virulent form due to multiple passages and thereby become an ILT source. Hence, monitoring of ILTV in the field through molecular characterization is critically important for controlling infection and differentiating circulating isolates. In this study, we genotypically characterized and phylogenetically analyzed eight ILTV isolates from chicken flocks located in four different cities of Turkey between 2019 and 2022. For all isolates, we analyzed two regions of the infected cell protein 4 gene (ICP4-1 and ICP4-2) and the thymidine kinase (TK) gene. The isolates were 100%, 100%, and 99.8-100% identical to each other in the ICP4-1 and ICP4-2 gene fragments and the TK gene, respectively. None of the ICP4 sequences had a deletion at nt 272-283, confirming that they were field isolates. None of the isolates were predicted to have a T252M mutation in the thymidine kinase, suggesting that they have low virulence. The isolates were 100%, 99.36%, and 99.91% identical to Turkish ILTV isolates in their ICP4-1, ICP4-2, and TK gene region, respectively. Phylogenetic analysis based on the ICP4-1 and TK genes confirmed that the ILTV isolates are closely related to Turkish ILTV isolates. This suggests that these ILTVs were endemic isolates, which in turn suggests that the ILTV isolates circulating in Turkey were evolutionarily close, originated from the field, and had low virulence.

Short-Term Prediction Method for Gas Concentration in Poultry Houses Under Different Feeding Patterns

Ammonia (NH3) and carbon dioxide (CO2) are the main gases that affect indoor air quality and the health of the chicken flock. Currently, the environmental control strategy for poultry houses mainly relies on real-time temperature, resulting in lag and singleness. Indoor air quality can be improved by predicting the change in CO2 concentration and proposing an optimal control strategy. Combining the advantages of seasonal-trend decomposition using loess (STL), Granger causality (GC), long short-term memory (LSTM), and extreme gradient boosting (XGBoost), an ensemble method called the STL-GC-LSTM-XGBoost model is proposed. This model can set fast response prediction results at a lower cost and has strong generalization ability. The comparative analysis shows that the proposed STL-GC-LSTM-XGBoost model achieved high prediction accuracy, performance, and confidence in predicting CO2 levels under different environmental regulation modes and data volumes. However, its prediction accuracy for NH3 was slightly lower than that of the STL-GC-LSTM model. This may be due to the limited variability and regularity of the NH3 dataset, which likely increased model complexity and decreased predictive ability with the introduction of XGBoost. Nevertheless, in general, the proposed integrated model still provides a feasible approach for gas concentration prediction and health-related risk control in poultry houses.

Multi-timescale inconsistency evaluation and data-driven state of health prediction for circulating water-cooled series battery pack

Inter-cell inconsistency significantly challenges battery pack lifetime, performance, and safety. Current research is deficient in evaluation across multiple time scales and correlation analysis with the state of health (SOH) of batteries. In this paper, we innovatively propose a multi-timescale evaluation method using the correlation coefficient to quantify the inconsistency during long-term aging while employing the coefficient of variation to accurately capture short-term inconsistency fluctuations within a single cycle. We extracted 29 health factors from cyclic data to accurately predict SOH and proposed an improved sparrow search algorithm combined with a support vector regression (ISSA-SVR) model. The model optimizes the sparrow position update strategy by introducing a chicken flock optimization algorithm and incorporating a stochastic function mechanism. This improvement effectively reduces the error and uncertainty in the traditional search process. The experiments are carried out on a 1P36 circulating water-cooled series battery pack, verified by rigorous aging tests. The results show that the correlation coefficient is excellent in assessing long-term inconsistency. In contrast, the coefficient of variation accurately maps the subtle differences in short-term variations and is highly correlated with changes in battery capacity. The ISSA-SVR model demonstrates significantly improved accuracy and robustness in SOH prediction compared to other methods.

A review of intensive contract poultry farming in Nigeria

Contract farming (CF) is a sort of vertical integration in agricultural commodity chains that provides a business with strong control over several operational processes, including the production process, the features of the items, quantity, quality, and timeliness of project execution. Birds were first domesticated by humans as farm animals, and as a result, many years ago, the contemporary practice of raising birds began with the harvesting of their eggs and young from their natural habitat. The Nigerian poultry industry falls into three main categories: small-, medium-, and large-scale, which are also referred to as backyard, semi-commercial, and commercial respectively. Contract farming emerged as an alternative to traditional or spot market-based agricultural production and was introduced into Nigeria under a variety of business names, including CHI, AMO, ANIMAL CARE, and ZARTECH, among others. Nigeria consumes 192.69 MT of poultry meat and egg products annually, resulting in enormous environmental impacts that have not been adequately addressed because of the growing use of contract farming. Contract farming has always received a lot of attention from academics and policymakers. Even though contract farming acknowledges the transfer of technology, prospects for increased revenue, and improved access to inputs, a great deal of research has focused on the risks that smallholder farmers face. In recent years, debate has erupted regarding the benefits and dangers of factory poultry production considering rising awareness of the challenges it poses to public health and the environment. This review reveals that backyard flocks of chickens can thrive independently of large-scale poultry operations. Survival traits including tiny size, hardiness, sluggish growth, low mature body weight, tolerance, or resistance to common local disease organisms and parasites define local chickens.

CRISPR/Cas9-Induced mutations of <i>chNHE1</i> gene in chicken primordial germ cells

In recent years, CRISPR/Cas9 technology has been extensively applied in gene editing research across plants as well as animal subjects, making it an effective tool in aiding the investigation of interactions between pathogens and hosts. Avian leukosis virus subgroup J (ALV-J) is the first known virus-related tumor disease causing avian leukosis, which can lead to major economic losses due to decreased productivity and increased mortality in infected chicken flocks. This poses a significant threat to the poultry industry worldwide, including Vietnam, as ALV-J is considered one of the most difficult pathogens to control. ALV-J infects the host cells by the meditation of the chicken NA+/H+ exchange type 1 (chNHE1) receptor. In this study, a CRISPR/Cas9 construct was developed and successfully delivered into the primordial germ cells of H'Mong-Vietnamese chickens. The insertion and expression of the transgenes in chicken cells were demonstrated by GFP expression and PCR with specific primers. The CRISPR/Cas9 induced mutations in the target gene chNHE1 were identified and characterized via ICE analysis (Synthego). The knockout score was indicated at 23 points from one of three tested cell batches. Various induced mutations were observed at the target locations, indicating the presence of different mutant cell lines in the tested cell batch. This is the first success in utilizing the CRISPR/Cas9 system to induce targeted mutations of the chNHE1 gene in the primordial germ cells of a local chicken variety in Vietnam. Our results provide a potential approach for further research to enhance the poultry health and productivity of local livestock.

Molecular Characterization of a Clade 2.3.4.4b H5N1 High Pathogenicity Avian Influenza Virus from a 2022 Outbreak in Layer Chickens in the Philippines.

H5 subtype high-pathogenicity avian influenza (HPAI) viruses continue to devastate the poultry industry and threaten food security and public health. The first outbreak of H5 HPAI in the Philippines was reported in 2017. Since then, H5 HPAI outbreaks have been reported in 2020, 2022, and 2023. Here, we report the first publicly available complete whole-genome sequence of an H5N1 high-pathogenicity avian influenza virus from a case in Central Luzon. Samples were collected from a flock of layer chickens exhibiting signs of lethargy, droopy wings, and ecchymotic hemorrhages in trachea with excessive mucus exudates. A high mortality rate of 96-100% was observed within the week. Days prior to the high mortality event, migratory birds were observed around the chicken farm. Lungs, spleen, cloacal swabs, and oropharyngeal-tracheal swabs were taken from two chickens from this flock. These samples were positive in quantitative RT-PCR assays for influenza matrix and H5 hemagglutinin (HA) genes. To further characterize the virus, the same samples were subjected to whole-virus-genome amplification and sequencing using the Oxford Nanopore method with mean coverages of 19,190 and 2984, respectively. A phylogenetic analysis of the HA genes revealed that the H5N1 HPAI virus from Central Luzon belongs to the Goose/Guangdong lineage clade 2.3.4.4b viruses. Other segments also have high sequence identity and the same genetic lineages as other clade 2.3.4.4b viruses from Asia. Collectively, these data indicate that wild migratory birds are the likely source of H5N1 viruses from the 2022 outbreaks in the Philippines. Thus, biosecurity practices and surveillance for HPAI viruses in both domestic and wild birds should be increased to prevent and mitigate HPAI outbreaks.

Enhancing Active Disturbance Rejection Control for a Vehicle Active Stabiliser Bar with an Improved Chicken Flock Optimisation Algorithm

An active stabiliser bar significantly enhances the anti-roll capabilities of vehicles. The control strategy is a crucial factor in enabling the active stabiliser bar to function effectively. This paper investigates an active disturbance rejection control (ADRC) strategy. Given the numerous parameters of the ADRC and their significant mutual influence, optimising these parameters is challenging. To address this, an improved chicken flock optimisation algorithm is proposed to optimise the ADRC parameters and enhance its performance. First, a three-degree-of-freedom dynamic model of the vehicle is established, and an active disturbance rejection control-based optimisation model utilising a chicken flock optimisation algorithm is constructed. To tackle the issues of getting stuck in local optima and low precision when dealing with complex problems in the traditional chicken flock optimisation (CFO) algorithm, several strategies, including improved Lévy flight, have been adopted. Subsequently, the twelve parameters of the ADRC are optimised using the improved chicken flock optimisation algorithm. Comprehensive testing on multiple benchmark functions demonstrates that the improved chicken flock optimisation (ICFO) algorithm is distinctly superior to other advanced algorithms in terms of solution quality and robustness. Simulation results show that the ICFO-ADRC controller is significantly superior. In four different complex road condition tests, the ICFO-ADRC controller shows an average performance improvement of 8% compared to the fuzzy PI-PD controller, an average improvement of 82% compared to the non-optimised ADRC controller, and an average improvement of 18% compared to the CFO-ADRC controller. Our findings confirm that this paper was able to provide new solutions for vehicle stability control whilst opening up new possibilities for the application of metaheuristic algorithms.

Clinicopathological and Molecular Investigation of Newcastle Disease Outbreaks in Vaccinated and Non-Vaccinated Broiler Chicken Flocks in Nepal.

Newcastle disease (ND) is a highly contagious viral disease caused by the paramyxovirus, which is a single-stranded ribonucleic acid (RNA) virus. This study was conducted to investigate ND outbreaks in 10 vaccinated or non-vaccinated broiler farms, collectively housing 9840 birds of various ages in the Chitwan and Nawalpur districts of Nepal from July to December 2021. Clinically, the affected birds exhibited symptoms such as limb paralysis, greenish diarrhea (seven out of ten flocks), torticollis (two out of ten flocks), inappetence, and drowsiness (ten out of ten flocks). Birds that succumbed during the clinical course underwent a necropsy for gross pathology and samples were collected for the histopathology and molecular diagnosis. The gross and microscopic examination revealed hemorrhages in the proventriculus, erosions and ulcers in the small intestine, congestion, as well as sero-mucosal hemorrhages in the trachea of affected birds, which are typical of ND. Rapid test kits further confirmed the presence of the ND virus antigen while excluding the avian influenza virus. Furthermore, M gene-based real time polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) was performed in the pooled samples from the affected birds and the presence of a velogenic strain of the ND virus was identified. The phylogenetic analysis of the RT-PCR positive strain based on the partial F gene nucleotide sequence revealed these strains as genotype VII.2 (formerly VIIi). The findings highlight the occurrence of clinical ND outbreaks in farms despite adherence to recommended vaccination protocols in broiler flocks, underscoring the need for a regular comprehensive investigation involving in-depth examinations of available vaccines and genetic analyses.

Pathogenicity and molecular characterization of a GI-19 infectious bronchitis virus isolated from East China.

Infectious bronchitis virus (IBV) is responsible for avian infectious bronchitis, a disease prevalent in countries with intensive poultry farming practices. Given the presence of multiple genotypic strains in China, identifying the regionally dominant genotypes is crucial for the implementation of effective prevention and control measures. This study focuses on the IBV strain CK/CH/WJ/215, isolated from a diseased commercial chicken flock in China in 2021. The CK/CH/WJ/215 isolate was genetically characterized through complete S1 sequence analysis. Phylogenetic comparisons were made with prevalent vaccine strains (H120, LDT3-A, and 4/91). Glycosylation patterns in the S1 protein were also analyzed. Pathogenicity was assessed in 7-day-old specific-pathogen-free chicks, monitoring morbidity, mortality, and tissue tropisms. Phylogenetic analysis clustered the CK/CH/WJ/215 isolate within the GI-19 lineage. Identity with the vaccination strains H120, LDT3-A, and 4/91 was low (75.7%, 78.6%, and 77.5% respectively). Novel glycosylation sites at positions 138 and 530 were identified compared to H120 and LDT-A. The isolate demonstrated nephropathogenic characteristics, causing 100% morbidity and 73.3% mortality in SPF chicks, with broader tropisms in tissues including trachea, lungs, kidneys, and bursa of Fabricius. Comprehensive genetic and pathological investigations revealed significant differences between the CK/CH/WJ/215 isolate and common vaccine strains, including novel glycosylation sites and a strong multiorgan infective capability. These findings are crucial for understanding the evolutionary dynamics of IBV and developing more effective prevention and control strategies.

Invasion of Chicken Anemia Virus in Specific-Pathogen-Free Chicken Flocks and Its Successful Elimination from the Colony.

A specific-pathogen-free (SPF) chicken colony was maintained with successive groups a month apart in age. The absence of specific pathogens, including chicken anemia virus (CAV), was confirmed through periodic serological tests for each group. However, some groups became CAV seropositive. The procedures of removing seropositive and the adjacent seronegative chickens followed with chemically disinfecting the housing did not halt CAV outbreaks. The full genome sequence of the CAV strain that appeared was closely related to low-virulence isolates in China. The outbreaks of CAV decreased with an increase in the seropositive chicken population, indicating that the progeny is protected from CAV infection by maternal anti-CAV antibodies. The persistence of CAV in erythroid and lymphoid tissues or reproductive tissues from CAV seropositive chickens was examined in chickens of various ages using polymerase chain reaction (PCR). Since a low persistence of CAV was observed in the colony, we isolated eggs from CAV seropositive hens through artificial insemination using semen collected from roosters and confirmed as CAV-free by PCR. Fertilized eggs were transferred to a new SPF facility and used for generating CAV-free progeny. To date, chickens reared in the new facility have been CAV-free for longer than two years. Redirection of eggs from seropositive hens was an effective means of eliminating CAV from chickens.

Clinical and Serological Observation of the Newcastle Disease on Commercial Meat Chicken Flocks in Basrah Province, South of Iraq

The current study was conducting to observed Newcastle Disease (ND) in Basrah and evaluated the competence of vaccination schedules used in commercial meat chicken farms. Monitoring of ND was dependent on 20 poultry houses located in Al Zubair, Al Mudaina, Al Qurnah, Garmat Ali Safwan, and Aluhais. The Incidence was recorded based on the clinical history of the disease in the poultry house, clinical signs, and post-mortem findings. ELISA test was estimated to detect Ab titer against ND, including maternal immunity and immune state after vaccination. The results indicated that the Incidence of ND was 80%. ND was not recorded in 20% of poultry houses. Results of the ELISA test showed differences of Ab against ND at different ages of birds, especially at a late stage. Ab titers were very low. The mean of maternal-derived antibodies was 6000 in Belgian, 308 Rose and 2000 for Iranian 501 coop. On the other hand, ND vaccines, available in local markets, showed a good quality (Ma5 + Clone 30) compared with different types, especially ( lasota + IB) Henkar.

Molecular Epidemiology of Fowl Aviadenoviruses in Broiler Chickens from Vaccinated and Nonvaccinated Breeders.

Fowl aviadenoviruses (FAdVs) are widely distributed among poultry populations, leading to various diseases, immunosuppression, and economic losses. Molecular characterization and phylogenetic analysis of circulating FAdV isolates play a critical role in epidemiologic studies, contributing to the control, monitoring, and prevention of related outbreaks. This study aimed to determine the serotypes of FAdV and reveal the molecular epidemiology in broiler chicken flocks. Samples were taken based on epidemiologically important parameters, such as vaccination status, age, and transmission route. A total of 20 vaccinated flocks (VF, flocks originated from vaccinated breeder lines) and 20 nonvaccinated flocks (NVF, flocks originated from nonvaccinated breeder lines) were randomly selected from flocks reporting suspected FAdV clinical symptoms and deaths. Vaccination was administered by intramuscular injection into the pectoral muscle with a commercial inactivated vaccine at 12 and 18 wk. Liver and cloacal swab samples were collected from each flock over two different production cycles and for three different age groups (1-day-old, 14-day-old, and 28-day-old chickens). The liver and cloacal swap samples were analyzed for FAdV using PCR targeting the hexon loop-1 gene. Molecular detection revealed that 30.0% (24/80) of all flocks were FAdV positive, with 50.0% (20/40) positivity in NVF and 10.0% (4/40) in VF. Sequence analysis of the hexon loop-1 gene revealed that all samples were FAdV-8b serotype (OR670689-OR670712), with 100.0% similarity. One randomly selected FAdV-8b sample was analyzed by whole-genome sequence analysis. This is the first study in Turkey to deposit an FAdV whole-genome sequence (44,139 bp) into the GenBank database (PP236873). Given the significantly lower FAdV positivity rates in VF compared to NVF, the findings indicate that vaccination is an effective tool for protecting against FAdV-related infections.

Influence of the Glutaraldehyde-based and Quaternary Ammonium Compounds Based Aerosol Disinfectant on Some of the Physiological and Zootechnical Indices in Broiler Chickens

Introduction. A huge number of disinfectants are used for aerosol disinfection of poultry premises, most of them are recommended for preventive or terminal disinfection carried out in the absence of poultry. At the same time, some products available to veterinary services are recommended for concurrent disinfection and are used in the presence of poultry, although, not all of them meet the requirements on composition, purpose and mode of use. The one of interest is a glutaraldehyde-based and quaternary ammonium compounds (QAC) based disinfectant, which has already been investigated in the scientific sources, however the influence of this agent on the physiological and zootechnical status of poultry treated therewith has not been fully studied. The aim of this research is to study the physiological status and productive qualities of the broiler chickens exposed to direct aerosol treatment with the glutaraldehydeand QAD based disinfectant.Materials and Methods. The research was conducted from October to November 2019 in the industrial poultry farm settings in a large flock of broiler chickens of the Cobb 500 cross, divided into two groups — experimental and control one. In the experimental poultry house, on the 10th day after putting the broiler chickens in the house, a preventive aerosol disinfection was carried out by means of the Nebulo cold fogger in the presence of poultry. A 0.5% solution of glutaraldehydeand QAD based disinfectant was used in a dosage of 5 ml per 1 m3 (the maximum permissible concentration exceeding the recommended one). In the control poultry house the aerosol disinfection was not carried out. The biochemical tests of blood serum (alanine aminotransferase (ALT), aspartate transaminase (AST), total bilirubin, total protein, creatinine, blood urea, blood uric acid) were made using a biochemical analyser. The zootechnical indices were also studied (livability, mortality, average daily gain, feed and water consumption during the full growing life cycle, feed conversion ratio).Results. The time history of the blood serum biochemical indices showed that the use of the glutaraldehydeand QAD based aerosol disinfectant in the specified above dosage in the presence of broiler chickens did not cause a negative, toxic effect on chickens’ metabolic indicators — all changes fluctuated slightly within the physiological norm. The zootechnical monitoring data have revealed the positive effect of the aerosol disinfection on the growth and maturing of chickens, enhancement of the livestock livability and poultry average daily gain due to the decrease of microbial burden on the growing organisms of chickens. The broiler chickens livability during the entire growing period in the experimental group was 0.84% higher than in the control group. Also, the average daily gain by the end of the growing period in the experimental group was 1.52% higher than in the control group, and the average liveweight of one bird was 2 137.7 g (experimental group) and 2 111.1 g (control group). At the same time, the feed costs in the experimental group were 0.11% less than in the control group.Discussion and Conclusion. It was found that the use of a glutaraldehydeand QAD based aerosol disinfectant, even in the maximum permissible concentration in the presence of poultry, not only didn’t have a negative effect on the physiological and zootechnical status of the broiler chickens, but, on the contrary, fostered creation of the more comfortable conditions for their keeping and growing. The obtained research results allow us to confidently recommend this method of aerosol disinfection to be used in the animal and poultry keeping premises.

CRISPR/Cas13a-based genome editing for establishing the detection method of H9N2 subtype avian influenza virus

Avian influenza virus (AIV) subtype H9N2 has significantly threatened the poultry business in recent years by having become the predominant subtype in flocks of chickens, ducks, and pigeons. In addition, the public health aspects of H9N2 AIV pose a significant threat to humans. Early and rapid diagnosis of H9N2 AIV is therefore of great importance. In this study, a new method for the detection of H9N2 AIV based on fluorescence intensity was successfully established using CRISPR/Cas13a technology. The Cas13a protein was first expressed in a prokaryotic system and purified using nickel ion affinity chromatography, resulting in a high-purity Cas13a protein. The best RPA (recombinase polymerase amplification) primer pairs and crRNA were designed and screened, successfully constructing the detection of H9N2 AIV based on CRISPR/Cas13a technology. Optimal concentration of Cas13a and crRNA was determined to optimize the constructed assay. The sensitivity of the optimized detection system is excellent, with a minimum detection limit of 10° copies/μL and didn't react with other avian susceptible viruses, with excellent specificity. The detection method provides the basis for the field detection of the H9N2 AIV.

On Chickens and the Maternal

ABSTRACT During the pandemic, a flock of chickens provided guidance I could not find in psychoanalytic theory on how to reimagine and reconfigure the Maternal to meet the demands of the largely untheorized Late Maternal period in order to protect my children’s psyches and mine from disintegration in response to pandemic formlessness. In exploring the powerful encounter with the non-human that unfolded, and the grief that ensued when we parted, I consider how the choice of chickens may have been a response to a call from and to the chicken part of me, and to psychoanalysis itself, for an expanded, fractal-informed, rhizomatically-oriented, Flock-attuned, openness to connections across time and species and a deeper relationship with the earth.

Relationship between Village Chicken Availability and Dietary Diversity along a Rural-Urban Gradient.

Dietary diversity is one of the fundamental factors of nutritional security and a proxy used to measure diet quality. The objective of this study was to investigate the relationship between village chicken availability and the dietary diversity of households along a rural-urban gradient. Face-to-face interviews were conducted using a structured questionnaire in rural (n = 100), peri-urban (n = 100), and urban (n = 100) areas of Pietermaritzburg uMgungundlovu District, KwaZulu-Natal, in South Africa. A positive relationship between distance from the city center and village chicken flock sizes (p < 0.001) was observed. Consumption of vegetables increased with an increase in distance from the city center (p < 0.01). A quadratic relationship was observed between distance from the city center and consumption of livestock-derived foods (LDFs) (p < 0.05). Consumption of LDFs increased with an increase in village chicken flock sizes (p < 0.05). Consumption of vegetables increased with an increase in village chicken flock sizes (p < 0.01). Food variety score (FVS) increased with an increase in distance from the city center (p < 0.05). Assessing the availability of village chickens across rural-urban gradients is a worthy opportunity to utilize to improve households' dietary diversity and alleviate poverty. It can be concluded that expanding village flock sizes could enhance the dietary diversity of households.

Comparative Study of Various Diagnostic Methods for Detection of Mycoplasma gallisepticum and Mycoplasma synoviae in Egyptian Chicken Flocks

The significance of Mycoplasma gallisepticum (MG) and Mycoplasma synoviae (MS) in the poultry industry underscores the critical importance of diagnosing avian mycoplasmosis within the field of veterinary medicine. The present study aimed to compare various diagnostic methods for detecting MG and MS in Egyptian Chicken Flocks. A total of 360 samples were collected from breeder, layer, and broiler chickens from four governorates in Egypt. Conventional isolation methods and polymerase chain reaction (PCR) were used for the direct detection of MG and MS, while serum plate agglutination test (SPA) and Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) were used for detecting antibodies against MG and MS. The highest detection rate of MG was found in commercial layers, followed by breeders, and broilers. Regarding MS, the highest detection rate was found in breeders, followed by commercial layers, and broilers. By comparing the used diagnostic methods, MG and MS were determined by the SPA test (40% and 31.1% respectively), ELISA test (31.7% and 23.6%), PCR (16.7% and 11.7%), and by the conventional culture method (10.8% and 3.9%). It could be concluded that the serological methods and PCR gave better sensitivity than culture methods and can be used in the diagnosis of avian mycoplasmosis.

Genomic tailoring of autogenous poultry vaccines to reduce Campylobacter from farm to fork

Campylobacter is a leading cause of food-borne gastroenteritis worldwide, linked to the consumption of contaminated poultry meat. Targeting this pathogen at source, vaccines for poultry can provide short-term caecal reductions in Campylobacter numbers in the chicken intestine. However, this approach is unlikely to reduce Campylobacter in the food chain or human incidence. This is likely as vaccines typically target only a subset of the high genomic strain diversity circulating among chicken flocks, and rapid evolution diminishes vaccine efficacy over time. To address this, we used a genomic approach to develop a whole-cell autogenous vaccine targeting isolates harbouring genes linked to survival outside of the host. We hyper-immunised a whole major UK breeder farm to passively target offspring colonisation using maternally-derived antibody. Monitoring progeny, broiler flocks revealed a near-complete shift in the post-vaccination Campylobacter population with an ~50% reduction in isolates harbouring extra-intestinal survival genes and a significant reduction of Campylobacter cells surviving on the surface of meat. Based on these findings, we developed a logistic regression model that predicted that vaccine efficacy could be extended to target 65% of a population of clinically relevant strains. Immuno-manipulation of poultry microbiomes towards less harmful commensal isolates by competitive exclusion, has major potential for reducing pathogens in the food production chain.