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Bismuth Citrate Studies: These studies will determine the efficacy of bismuth citrate in reducing incidence of Camplyobacteriosis and necrotic enteritis in broiler chickens.
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Disinfectant Efficacy: This project will determine the efficacy of commonly used disinfects when treated with heat, time, organic matter and adulterants. These studies will simulate conditions present in the poultry industry. The data generated will help poultry integrators improve their biosecurity plans and prevent disease.
<P>Probiotic / Vaccine Study: This study will evaluate the effectiveness of immune potentiating probiotics on improving vaccine responses.
<P>Correlation of Immunosuppressive Viruses with Incidence of Foodborne Pathogens: This field trial will evaluate the interaction of immunosuppressive viruses with incidence of foodborne pathogens on poultry farms.
<P>Litter Study: This study will examine the ability of steam and quicklime to reduce Salmonella typhimurium in chicken litter.
<P> Disaster / Disease Response: This program will help the poultry industry with disaster and disease response by providing educational seminars and coordinating with disaster response companies, state agencies and federal entities.
<P>Public Service: The public service objective will entail reaching out to individual poultry hobbyists, 4H programs, FFA programs, Jr. High Students and High School Students via one-on-one interactions, livestock shows and speaking engagements.
<P> Academic Service: Academic service includes teaching classes, publishing data, peer reviewing papers, mentoring undergraduate and graduate students, serving on committees, attending meetings and giving talks.
<P>Service to the Commercial Poultry Industry: This objective will be met by providing information to the commercial industry through public speaking engagements, email, phone conversations, trade publications, student recruitment, educating their labor force, publishing peer reviewed journal articles and applied research (objectives a-h).
NON-TECHNICAL SUMMARY: Poultry are susceptible to numerous pathogens of avian and human health concern. This project will examine techniques that may reduce pathogen levels in poultry. The project will also have an extension component to dessiminate the information to the poultry industry.
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APPROACH: <BR> Bismuth Citrate: This project will challenge broilers with Campylobacter jejuni or Clostridia perfringens to evaluate if a bismuth citrate treatment will reduce gut colonization by these pathogens or the level of tissue damage. Pathogens will be quantitated with both pathogen challenges and lesion scores will be determined for the Clostridia perfringens treatment. <BR> <BR> Disinfectant Efficacy: This project will examine disinfectant efficacy in simulated field conditions against two indicator organisms. Staphylococcus aureus will serve as the Gram positive indicator organism and Salmonella typhimurium will serve as the Gram negative indicator organism. <BR> <BR> Probiotic/Vaccine Study: This project will examine the immune potentiating effects of probiotics on mucosal immunity and ultimately vaccine response. Phase I will consist of the following groups: negative control, vaccine only, probiotic only and a vaccine / probiotic combination. Lymphocyte proliferation, antibody titers and monocyte function will be evaluated to determine if innate, cell mediated or humoral stimulation was improved. Phase II will be a much larger trial to determine feed conversion and efficacy of the Phase I treatments against a pathogenic challenge. In addition to quantitation of immune parameters, lesion scoring and animal productivity will be determined. <BR> <BR> Correlation of Immunosuppressive Viruses with Incidence of Foodborne Pathogens: This field trial will be conducted at the request of a major Texas Broiler Integrator. It will determine if there is a correlation between immunosuppressive viruses and incidence of foodborne bacteria such as Salmonella or Campylobacter. Comparisons will be made between new houses vs. old houses, intervention strategies, and differences in husbandry techniques. Viral and bacterial samples will be collected throughout two complexes, from the broiler breeder houses to the processing plant. <BR> <BR> Litter Study: This study will examine the efficacy of steam and lime treatments on reducing numbers of Salmonella in chicken litter. Market aged broilers will be challenged with bacteria, placed on new bedding material and allowed to seed the litter for two weeks. Approximately 100 pounds of litter will be removed and mixed for homogeneity. Litter will be weighed and treated with steam or quicklime and sampled for bacterial colonization.