Network meta-analysis comparing the effectiveness of anticoccidial drugs and anticoccidial vaccination in broiler chickens

Quantifying the effect of coccidiosis on broiler performance and infection outcomes in the presence and absence of control methods

“…The primary objective of this meta-analysis sought to determine the effect of Eimeria infection, with E. acervulina, E. maxima, E. tenella or mixed species on broiler growth performance (ADFI, ADG, FCR). As expected, infection with Eimeria penalised the adjusted means of the performance variables ( Sakkas et al., 2018 ; Teng et al., 2020 ; Eckert et al., 2021 ). However, the effect of infection with different Eimeria species on performance variables was different between our meta-analysis and that of Kipper et al.…”

“…Our analysis pointed towards several inherent problems associated with data quality, several of which were unnecessary, such as those associated with OPG assessment. Such issues should be carefully considered in future poultry coccidian research, in order for progress to be made, as has been suggested by Eckert et al. (2021) .…”

“…In cases where no measure of variation was provided, the SD was imputed. Since the studies were independent with different experimental designs and authors, it is reasonable to assume that missing values were missing completely at random ( Eckert et al., 2021 ).…”

“…Furthermore, public health concerns about the presence of anticoccidial residues in chicken meat and eggs ( Bozkurt et al., 2013 ), emphasize the pressure to explore alternative control methods for coccidiosis, such as vaccination to combat the issues described above. Although there is greater consistency on the experimental conditions under which the efficacy of coccidiosis controls is assessed, there is still great variation on their reported outcomes ( Soutter et al., 2020 ), and uncertainty about the effects of control methods, such as vaccination, on ADFI and ADG ( Eckert et al., 2021 ).…”

“…Previous meta-analyses in this field have explored the effect of infection ( Kipper et al., 2013 ), and the influence of anticoccidial drugs and vaccination ( Eckert et al., 2021 ), on the performance of Eimeria infected broilers. From these informative meta-analyses, a knowledge gap was identified in the effect of Eimeria infection on the severity of infection outcomes, and any possible interactions between infection outcomes and performance characteristics of both treated (i.e., synthetic anticoccidial drugs, ionophores, and vaccinations) and nontreated (i.e., no control methods) broiler chickens.…”