The poultry industry faces challenge amidst global food security crisis. Infectious bronchitis is one of the most important viral infections that cause huge economic loss to the poultry industry worldwide. The causative agent, infectious bronchitis virus (IBV) is an RNA virus with great ability for mutation and recombination; thus, capable of generating new virus strains that are difficult to control. There are many IBV strains found worldwide, including the Massachusetts, 4/91, D274, and QX-like strains that can be grouped under the classic or variant serotypes. Currently, information on the epidemiology, strain diversity, and global distribution of IBV has not been comprehensively reported. This review is an update of current knowledge on the distribution, genetic relationship, and diversity of the IBV strains found worldwide.

Newcastle disease (ND) is one of the most devastating diseases that considerably cripple the global poultry industry. Because of its enormous socioeconomic importance and potential to rapidly spread to naïve birds in the vicinity, ND is included among the list of avian diseases that must be notified to the OIE immediately upon recognition. Currently, virus isolation followed by its serological or molecular identification is regarded as the gold standard method of ND diagnosis. However, this method is generally slow and requires specialised laboratory with biosafety containment facilities, making it of little relevance under epidemic situations where rapid diagnosis is seriously needed. Thus, molecular based diagnostics have evolved to overcome some of these difficulties, but the extensive genetic diversity of the virus ensures that isolates with mutations at the primer/probe binding sites escape detection using these assays. This diagnostic dilemma leads to the emergence of cutting-edge technologies such as next-generation sequencing (NGS) which have so far proven to be promising in terms of rapid, sensitive, and accurate recognition of virulent Newcastle disease virus (NDV) isolates even in mixed infections. As regards disease control strategies, conventional ND vaccines have stood the test of time by demonstrating track record of protective efficacy in the last 60 years. However, these vaccines are unable to block the replication and shedding of most of the currently circulating phylogenetically divergent virulent NDV isolates. Hence, rationally designed vaccines targeting the prevailing genotypes, the so-called genotype-matched vaccines, are highly needed to overcome these vaccination related challenges. Among the recently evolving technologies for the development of genotype-matched vaccines, reverse genetics-based live attenuated vaccines obviously appeared to be the most promising candidates. In this review, a comprehensive description of the current and emerging trends in the detection, identification, and control of ND in poultry are provided. The strengths and weaknesses of each of those techniques are also emphasised.

1. Four combinations of metabolites produced from strains of Lactobacillus plantarum were used to study the performance of broiler chickens. 2. A total of 432 male Ross broilers were raised from one-day-old to 42 d of age in deep litter pens (12 birds/pen). These birds were divided into 6 groups and fed on different diets: (i) standard maize-soybean-based diet (negative control); (ii) standard maize-soybean-based diet + Neomycin and Oxytetracycline (positive control); (iii) standard maize-soybean-based diet + 0.3% metabolite combination of Lactobacillus plantarum RS5, RI11, RG14 and RG11 strains (com3456); (iv) standard maize-soybean-based diet + 0.3% metabolite combination of L. plantarum TL1, RI11 and RG11 (Com246); (v) standard maize-soybean-based diet + 0.3% metabolite combination of L. plantarum TL1, RG14 and RG11 (Com256) and (vi) standard maize-soybean-based diet + 0.3% metabolite combination of L. plantarum TL1, RS5, RG14 and RG11 (Com2356). 3. Higher final body weight, weight gain, average daily gain and lower feed conversion ratio were found in all 4 treated groups. 4. The addition of a metabolite combination supplementation also increased faecal lactic acid bacteria population, small intestine villus height and faecal volatile fatty acids and faecal Enterobacteriaceae population.

Among the bacterial fermentation end products in the chicken cecum, butyrate is of particular importance because of its nutritional properties for the epithelial cell and pathogen inhibitory effects in the gut. An in vitro experiment, operated with batch bioreactor, was conducted to quantify butyric-producing bacteria in a simulated broiler cecum supplemented with Lactobacillus salivarius ssp. salicinius JCM 1230 and Lactobacillus agilis JCM 1048 during 24 h of incubation. Selected bacterial species were determined by real-time PCR and short-chain fatty acids and lactate concentrations were monitored. The results showed that after 24 h of incubation, Lactobacillus supplementation significantly increased the number of lactobacilli, bifidobacteria and Faecalibacterium prausnitzii in medium containing cecal content and lactobacilli supplementation (Cc + L) compared with the control (Cc). Addition of lactobacilli did not alter Escherichia coli and Clostridium butyricum, whereas it significantly (P < 0.05) reduced Salmonella in treatment Cc + L compared with the Cc treatment. Propionate and butyrate formation were significantly (P < 0.05) increased in treatment Cc + L as compared with the Cc treatment. Lactate was only detected in treatment containing 2 Lactobacillus strains. After 24 h of incubation, acetate concentration significantly (P < 0.05) decreased in all treatments. It was suggested that lactate produced by Lactobacillus in the cecal content improved the growth of butyric producers such as F. prausnitzii, which significantly increased butyrate accumulation. Additionally, the results showed that butyrate and propionate inhibited Salmonella without influencing the E. coli profile.

The influenza virus (IV) is known to be a resistant virus with frequent mutations, causing severe respiratory diseases in the upper respiratory system. Public health concerns about clinical efficacy of all conventional drugs are ambiguous; therefore, finding additional therapeutic agents is critical to prevent and control influenza outbreaks. Influenza is associated with the induction of proinflammatory cytokines. Scientists have reported that anti-inflammatory drugs, with pleiotropic effects, reduce the burden of severe influenza diseases. Therefore, statins, which are cardioprotective drugs with anti-inflammatory and immunomodulatory effects, may help patients suffering from influenza virus (IV). This review delineates the potential use of statins as an alternative therapy in treating influenza related illness.