Cover Stories

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  Are there practical alternatives to ionophores? - Proponents of raising broilers without ionophores and other antibiotics have proposed putting more emphasis on farm management, biosecurity and alternatives to anticoccidials.
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  Canada studies find no links between ionophores, resistance of other antibiotics - One of the few studies about antibiotic resistance and ionophores in poultry was published by Canadian researchers in 2007 who found that isolates showing resistance to multiple antibiotics can be found in broilers regardless of the antimicrobials used.
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  Ionophores look different to other scientists, too - Several organizations have drawn the line distinguishing ionophores from other types of antibiotics.
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  Are ionophores antibiotics? That depends on whom you ask - In the EU — a market often perceived to be less tolerant of antibiotic use in food animals than the US — antibiotics used for growth promotion were banned in 2006. However, certain ionophores, such as monensin and salinomycin, are still widely used for managing coccidiosis in poultry.
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  Ionophores: The price of elimination - Published reports indicate that poultry operations not using any type of antibiotic, including ionophores, are indeed experiencing setbacks in production and flock welfare.
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  Omitting ionophores raises ethical conflicts for veterinarians - Some advocacy groups believe that more restaurants and foodservice companies should follow the lead of Chipotle, Panera and Chick-fil-A, which only buy chickens raised without any products classified as antibiotics, including ionophores.

Special Report

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  Pathways to protection: How one vaccine decision can affect options for managing other diseases in broilers - Broiler operations want to provide the best disease protection for the least cost, but deciding which vaccines to use and when can be a daunting task.
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  Shift and drift affect broiler vaccination decisions - Few viruses in poultry remain static over long periods of time. Slight genetic shifts or mutations that occur during replication result in a genetic code drift away from the original virus. Over time, new variants of the original virus form.
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  Three more broiler diseases you can manage with vaccination - There's more to poultry health than Marek's, IBD, ILT and ND. Vaccines also play major roles in curbing these common diseases.
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  Complex broiler-vaccine decisions require expert advice - Developing a vaccination program targeting optimal performance and return requires more planning and expertise than local “experts” at the farm store can offer.

Discoveries

Expert Advice

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  Breaches in biosecurity: Sanderson Farms vet shares three valuable lessons - By Philip A. Stayer, DVM Corporate Veterinarian, Sanderson Farms, Inc.

Sound Science

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  High stocking density predisposes broilers to NE - High stocking density has adverse effects on broiler welfare and intestinal health and predisposes the birds to necrotic enteritis (NE), according to the results of an experiment conducted by researchers from the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki.

Diagnostics

Words & Numbers

The Last Word

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  Editorial: Ignoring the 800-pound gorilla - With all the worries about avian influenza in the US and other major poultry markets, you’d think a magazine named Poultry Health Today would have made flu its cover story and surrounded the topic from every angle. But after much discussion, the editors decided to ignore the 800-pound gorilla in the chicken house — at least for this edition.