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ARS Home » Northeast Area » Beltsville, Maryland (BARC) » Beltsville Agricultural Research Center » Animal Biosciences & Biotechnology Laboratory » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #335618

Title: Recent advances in host protective immunity and novel disease control strategies against intestinal protozoan infections in commercial poultry

Author
item Lillehoj, Hyun

Submitted to: Meeting Abstract
Publication Type: Abstract Only
Publication Acceptance Date: 1/19/2017
Publication Date: N/A
Citation: N/A

Interpretive Summary: Not needed for abstract.

Technical Abstract: Poultry meat consumption has increased globally by 50% since 2000, accounting for greater than 100 million tons in 2012. Multiple challenges confront the rising demand for poultry food products, including governmental restrictions on the use of antibiotic growth promoters and novel feedstuffs, high-density production conditions, waste management, and the emergence of infectious pathogens, particularly those that cause intestinal diseases. There is little doubt that in-feed antibiotics has dramatically increased the efficiency of commercial poultry production over the last 50 years. However, antibiotic usage in chickens has raised consumer concerns regarding chemical residues in the poultry products that they consume, and has directly led to the appearance of drug resistance among avian pathogens that has the potential to be transferred to microorganisms that infect humans. Much interest, therefore, has focused on the development of alternative, antibiotic-free methods of commercial poultry production. These newer disease control strategies can be broadly classified into those that are directly cytotoxic against infectious agents, including hyperimmune antibodies, antimicrobial peptides, and bacteriophages, and those that augment host immunity, including phytochemicals, adjuvants, and next-generation vaccines. This talk will highlight new approaches which are being developed to protect against avian coccidiosis using passive and active immunization strategies.