fbpx
Sign up now!
Don't show this again
Sweepstakes Rules

We’re glad you’re enjoying Poultry Health Today.
Access is free but you’ll need to register to view more content.
Already registered? Sign In
Tap to download the app
X
Share
X
REPORTSCollect articles and features into your own report to read later, print or share with others

Create a New Report

Favorites

Read Later

Create a new report

Report title (required) Brief description (optional)
CREATE
X
NEXT
POULTRY
follow us


You must be logged in to edit your profile.

Sponsored by Zoetis

Sponsored By Zoetis

.
PHTweb Ecoli Layers 423328146

E. coli implicated in layer gut disease

Escherichia coli (E.coli) may be largely responsible for focal duodenel necrosis (FDN) in layer chickens, according to researchers at the University of Georgia.

FDN — also known as multifocal ulcerative duodenitis or “gray gut” — is considered one of the top-five diseases in the table-egg layer industry but is not well understood.

First described in the late 1990s, the etiology of FDN has not been identified, but some research has identified Clostridium colinum and Clostridium perfringens from FDN samples as potential actors in the disease.

UGA scientists, led by Yu-Yang Tsai with the Poultry Diagnostic and Research Center, Department of Population Health,  aimed to identify the Gram-negative filamentous bacteria commonly found in association with FDN lesions.

For their study, they collected 59 ethanol-fixed duodenum samples from eight different FDN-affected farms and observed FDN lesions in 42 duodenum samples.

Cutting-edge techniques

Using genomic techniques, investigators determined that preliminary results suggest that E. coli represents a large proportion of the microbial composition, followed by Enterococcus faecalis and Acinetobacter spp.

On gross lesion analysis, they found focal to multifocal erosions in duodenum tissues consistent with FDN. Microscopic analysis of the lesions showed heterophilic and lymphoplasmacytic enteritis with loss of enterocytes at the villous tips, luminal fibrinonecrotic exudate and variable numbers of filamentous bacteria, the researchers noted.

“Further virulence gene analysis by PCR (polymerase chain reaction) found 70.2% of isolates examined possessed avian pathogenic E. coli virulence genes, and 93.6% possessed inflammatory bowel disease virulent determents,” the researchers reported.

They also collected an additional 20 fresh duodenum samples from one FDN-affected farm. Of those samples, 10 had FDN microscopic lesions, and the researchers isolated a total of 47 colonies, including 31 aerobic colonies and 16 anaerobic colonies.

Through 16S rRNA gene PCR and Sanger sequencing, they identified 39 colonies as E. coli, three as Staphylococcus and five were unidentified.

The research provides important new information about FDN and its association with E.coli.

For more on this study, see the 2022 IPSF proceedings (abstract M51, page 17).

Shareicon Pht 1
Share It
Escherichia coli (E.coli) may be largely responsible for focal duodenel necrosis (FDN) in layer chickens — one of the top-five diseases in the table egg layer industry — according to researchers at the University of Georgia.

Click an icon to share this information with your industry contacts.



Posted on October 27, 2022

tags: , ,
RELATED NEWS



You must be logged in to edit your profile.

Google Translate is provided on this website as a reference tool. However, Poultry Health Today and its sponsor and affiliates do not guarantee in any way the accuracy of the translated content and are not responsible for any event resulting from the use of the translation provided by Google. By choosing a language other than English from the Google Translate menu, the user agrees to withhold all liability and/or damage that may occur to the user by depending on or using the translation by Google.