Benefits of supplementing poultry diet with hatchery waste.

A recent research published in PlosOne shows that supplementing poultry diets with hatchery waste is beneficial to the birds as it enhances growth performance and confers immunity . The study has examined the effect of hatchery eggshell membranes (HESM) as a short term feed supplement on growth performance and immunity of chickens under bacterial lipopolysaccharide (LPS) challenged conditions. Eggshells are a significant part of hatchery waste which consist of calcium carbonate crust, membranes, and proteins and peptides of embryonic origins along with other entrapped contaminants including microbes. The researchers of the University of Arkansas hypothesized that using this product as a nutritional additive in poultry diet may confer better immunity to the chickens in the paradigm of mammalian milk that enhances immunity. Three studies were conducted to find the effect of HESM supplement on post hatch chickens. In the first study, the chickens were fed either a control diet or diets containing 0.5% whey protein or HESM as supplement and evaluated at 5 weeks of age using growth, hematology, clinical chemistry, plasma immunoglobulins, and corticosterone as variables. The second and third studies were done to compare the effects of LPS on control and HESM fed birds at 5 weeks of age following at 4 and 24 h of treatment where the HESM was also sterilised with ethanol to deplete bacterial factors. HESM supplement caused weight gain in 2 experiments and decreased blood corticosterone concentrations. While LPS caused a significant loss in body weight at 24 h following its administration, the HESM supplemented birds showed significantly less body weight loss compared with the control fed birds. The result shows that post-hatch supplementation of HESM improve performance, modulate immunity, and increase resistance of chickens to endotoxin.

Genetic engineering unlocks new vaccine for Marek's disease.

Scientists at The Pirbright Institute have used genetic engineering to develop a more efficient and effective vaccine for Marek’s disease which could pave the way for a new generation of poultry disease vaccines. The Marek's disease vaccine (MDV) is currently controlled by vaccination and over 20 billion vaccine doses are administered worldwide each year. Turkey herpes virus (known as HVT), is widely used in the development of avian vaccines as a method of delivering elements of avian pathogens (disease causing agents), into birds to create the immune response that protects them against disease. The technologies currently available for creating HVT recombinant vaccines are difficult and time consuming to use, however. In the case of Marek’s disease, the existing methods also hinder the level of protection the vaccines can offer. Advances in technology have facilitated the development of a new gene editing technique called CRISPR/Cas9 (Clustered Regularly Interspaced Palindromic Repeats/ associated Cas9), which enables greater speed and accuracy in targeting, cutting and editing gene sequences. This technique was used by Dr Yongxiu Yao, to genetically modify HVT; inserting part of the Marek’s disease virus into it to generate a completely new genetically modified (GM) vaccine, which is capable of protecting against the most dangerous strains of the virus. Dr Yao said, “This was a great opportunity to create a new generation of vaccines. HVT is widely used in the production of a variety of avian disease vaccines and genetically engineering it in this way has unlocked its potential to protect against all strains of Marek’s disease virus, as well as other dangerous avian viruses such as bird flu, which is also a danger to humans.

OFFLU; the global network of expertise on animal influenza.

OFFLU is the OIE-FAO global network of expertise on animal influenza working to reduce the negative impacts of animal influenza viruses by promoting effective collaboration between animal health experts and with the human health sector. The animal health community will provide early recognition and characterization of emerging influenza viral strains in animal populations, and effective management of known infections, thereby better managing the risk to human health and supporting global food security, animal health and welfare, and other community benefits derived from domestic animals and wildlife. The objectives of OFFLU are as follows 1)To share and offer technical advice, training and veterinary expertise to international organisations and Member Countries to assist in the prevention, diagnosis, surveillance and control of animal influenza. 2) To exchange scientific data and biological materials (including virus strains) within the network, to analyse such data, and to share such information with the wider scientific community. 3)To collaborate with the WHO on issues relating to the animal-human interface, including pandemic preparedness for early preparation of human vaccine. 4)To highlight influenza surveillance and research needs, promote their development and co-ordination.more

OIE creates global avian influenza web portal.

The World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE) has created a web portal on avian influenza to help public gain a better understanding of the international avian influenza situation.According to the OIE, gaining a better understanding of the disease, providing easy access to recommendations on how to control it, and raising awareness of the current global avian influenza situation are the main objectives for creating the portal. The new OIE portal on avian influenza brings together a wealth of information, enabling a greater understanding of the disease and detailing the biosecurity measures recommended by the OIE, at both the farm and trade level, to halt its spread. The platform describes the actions taken by the OIE and its partners. Indeed, the prevention and control of zoonotic influenza's is one of the three priorities of the alliance between the OIE, United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), and the World Health Organization (WHO). During recent months, the avian influenza strain H5N8, in particular, has been in the news, having been successively identified in several regions of the world, particularly Europe and America, as well as Asia and the Middle-East. The new OIE portal allows us to follow this strain’s global evolution as well as the other H5 and H7 strains in real time. check it out

Forage grass could increase milk production by 40%.

A new reports states that African dairy farmers could benefit from new varieties of high-quality, drought-resistant forage grass known as Brachiaria that boosts milk production by 40 per cent.The forage grass could enable farmers increase their incomes, according to experts at the Colombia-headquartered International Center for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT) – a CGIAR Research Center. The study demonstrates the high potential for improved forages in East Africa and high payoff for investment in improved forages. Brachiaria grass is climate-friendly and has high crude protein and less fiber, which leads to better use and digestion by cattle, in turn leading to less methane gas produced for each unit of livestock product such as milk or meat. Methane is one of the gases associated with global warming. The grass is relatively drought-tolerant compared to the Napier or elephant grass commonly used in East Africa and the grass can easily be conserved as hay for utilization during forages scarcity or for sale. The study shows that a 40% increase in milk production is achievable in East Africa after feeding livestock with Brachiaria,milk production increased by 150 per cent between 2004 and 2012, from 197.3 million litres to 497.9 million litres. continue

Veterinary services for rural dwellers.

Veterinary services make vital contributions to livestock supply chains, from farm to fork, and must be strengthened for the benefit of people, animals and the environment. Livestock play a pivotal role in income-generation, employment, food and nutrition security, transport, power and social cohesion for millions of people worldwide. Even small amounts of animal-source foods can contribute substantially to the nutritional profile of human diets, and by-products including manure, fiber and hides are used as fertilizer, building materials, fuel and clothing. 42 per cent of the world’s poor are reliant on livestock as a livelihood strategy and two thirds of the world’s poor livestock keepers are rural women, the unique multifunctionality of livestock is particularly significant to the lives of the world’s most vulnerable people.continue

Autism and the app intervention.

Autism is a mental condition that is evident from early childhood and characterized by great difficulty in communicating and forming relationships with other people and in using language and abstract concepts. Autism is a neurodevelopmental disorder characterized by restricted and repetitive behavior,although the condition is heritable some school of thought believe that environmental factors also play a role. Early detection and intervention are very important in the management of the condition,the fact that many parents dont come to terms with the diagnosis or seek help immediately complicates the condition. Parents that are ready to face the situation are often handicapped because of lack of information ,as many dont know where to turn or whom to turn to for help. This is the story of Rebecca Keysers,whose son was diagnosed as having autism spectrum disorder and how this left her struggling to navigate her way and get the best help for him. The mother from regional New South Wales said after she found a path through and was able to access resources and services, she had many friends also facing a diagnosis who came to her asking, "What do I do now?" "That's when I decided there are so many families out there that get the diagnosis and are really unsure where to go and how to access therapies, early intervention, information and resources," Ms Keysers said. Despite having no former experience in creating a website or digital app, Ms Keysers decided to create what she said was an Australian-first, one-stop-shop to connect families and autism service providers. continue