University of Arkansas Researchers Evaluating Preventative Solution to a Billion-Dollar Poultry Problem
The poultry industry loses up to $6 billion annually due to necrotic enteritis, a preventable intestinal disease in poultry, including broiler chickens. An Arkansas Agricultural Experiment Station poultry science researcher is evaluating a new possible solution using a novel vaccine combined with a bile acid regimen.
Necrotic enteritis has been controlled by coccidiostats and antibiotics. Coccidiostats are a type of medication used in poultry and livestock production to prevent and control coccidiosis, a parasitic disease.
Xiaolun "Jack" Sun, University of Arkansas researcher, said concerns of antimicrobial resistance by consumers, the poultry industry and regulatory agents have prompted restrictions on the use of antimicrobials in the U.S. poultry industry. These restrictions likely contributed to an increase in necrotic enteritis.
The disease that generally affects young broiler chickens is caused by an overgrowth of the bacteria Clostridium perfringens and a parasite called Eimeria maxima in the small intestine. Sun aims to develop a "multiepitope fusion antigen" vaccine, or MEFA vaccine, to target C. perfringens growth and infection in the gut.
The team will construct and evaluate MEFA vaccines in the lab and with live chickens, including through oral delivery. The research will also investigate the efficacy of administering bile acids.
Sun is hopeful his research will result in the development of an effective and low-cost MEFA vaccine and bile acid treatment that can significantly reduce necrotic enteritis.
Read more about this NIFA-supported work.
Broiler chickens in commercial poultry house. Image courtesy of Adobe Stock.
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