The effect of infection with mixedEimeriaspecies on hematology and immune responses following Newcastle disease and infectious bursal disease booster vaccination in broilers

Abstract

Background: Coccidiosis is an important parasitic disease of chickens, causing high mortality and morbidity. This morbidity is believed to be correlated with altered population dynamics of blood cells and immunocompromisation. Objectives: This study investigated the effects of mixed Eimeria species (viz., tenella, maxima, acervulina and necatrix) infection on hematology and immune responses following Newcastle disease (ND) and infectious bursal disease (IBD) booster vaccination in broilers. Animals and methods: One-day-old broiler chicks (Hubbard; n D 200) were divided into two equal groups A and B. On day 16, group A was infected orally with Eimeria species (7 £ 10 4 sporulated oocysts), whereas group B served as control. Both groups were analyzed for hematological parameters on post-infection days 6À8. Sera from both groups were analyzed for antibody titers against ND and IBD vaccines. On day 8 post-infection, lymphoid organs were also examined. Results: Significantly lower (P < 0.05) levels of plasma proteins, globular volume, hemoglobin concentration, packed cell volume, total erythrocytes, mean corpuscular volume and mean corpuscular hemoglobin concentration were found in infected chickens compared with non-infected control chickens. In addition, the infected group exhibited significantly increased (P < 0.05) numbers of different leukocytes. Infected chickens also showed significantly lower antibody titers against ND and IBD with decreased relative organ weights of all lymphoid organs except spleen. Conclusion and recommendations: Mixed species of Eimeria adversely affected the hematology and immune efficiency of broilers. Thus, inexpensive immune potentiators and hemotonics along with appropriate anti-coccidial medications are suggested to avoid the complications and subsequent economic losses.

Dietary supplementation with free methionine or methionine dipeptide mitigates intestinal oxidative stress induced by Eimeria spp. challenge in broiler chickens

“…As the weight of lymphoid organs can be used as an indication of the body’s ability to deliver lymphoid cells during immune responses [40], we evaluated the relative weight of the bursa of Fabricius and of the spleen. We observed that EC broilers showed lower relative weight of the bursa of Fabricius, as reported in other study [41], and higher relative weight of the spleen and whole intestine, which is also in agreement with the results of previous works [42, 43]. A low relative weight of the bursa of Fabricius can be attributed to organ atrophy caused by lymphocyte depletion or to micronecrosis and cell migration [44].…”

The effect of supplementation of multistrain probiotic preparation in combination with vitamins and minerals to the basal diet on the growth performance, carcass traits, and physiological response of broilers

“…[ 35 ] and Akhtar et al . [ 36 ] that infected broilers had higher numbers of leukocytes and differential leukocytes relative to non-infected birds. This increased leukocytes and differential leukocytes were attributed to the induction of immune responses of the infected broilers against infectious agents [ 36 ].…”

“…[ 36 ] that infected broilers had higher numbers of leukocytes and differential leukocytes relative to non-infected birds. This increased leukocytes and differential leukocytes were attributed to the induction of immune responses of the infected broilers against infectious agents [ 36 ]. Owing to these earlier data, it may be suggested that supplementation with multistrain probiotics in combination with vitamins and minerals was able to alleviate the potential infections (from the field), resulting in less induction of immune responses of broilers.…”

Herd immunity to Newcastle disease virus in broiler flocks in Israel

“…An important reason may be poor vaccination technique or incorrect handling of the vaccines (Gallili & Ben-Nathan, 1998;Dortmans et al, 2012). Other factors reported that may impair the immune response are those of concurrent disease or infestation by internal parasites, nutritional problems, other vaccines, high level off maternal antibodies and stress (Eidson et al, 1982;Gallili & Ben-Nathan, 1998;Seal et al, 2000;Akhtar et al, 2015). In this study information on concurrent disease, infestation by internal parasites, nutritional problems and stress were not reliably available.…”