Board Research Initiative (BRI) Competiton

Combatting Clostridial Diseases in Poultry - 9/14/23

Poultry health and well-being is a major focus for the broiler chicken industry in the current era of 'no antibiotic ever' farming. Specifically intestinal health has suffered greatly as a result of the restricted use of antibiotics on broiler farms which has resulted in increased mortality, decreased feed efficiency and increased economic costs for broiler farmers. One of the major concerns that has resurfaced is Necrotic enteritis (NE) which is caused by toxin-producing virulent Clostridium perfringens bacterium. The global losses due to NE, one of the most devastating enteric diseases, are more than $6 billion/year and finding 'alternatives to antibiotics' is very important. Read full initiative...

Infectious Coryza Disease in the Commercial Layer Industry - 9/14/23

Infectious Coryza caused by Avibacterium paragallinarum (AP) is an upper respiratory disease leading to drastic drops in egg production. This disease has been traditionally viewed as a warm weather disease with limited geographical areas primarily in the US South and California. However, over the past 5 years this disease has emerged in several geographic locations, seriously challenging the layer industry. The chronic carrier status that AP produces in infected flocks makes it very challenging to control and eradicate the disease in multiage layer complexes which leads to major economic losses. Currently available real-time quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qPCR), which is the main confirmatory diagnostic test for this disease, has shown a large percentage of false positives in normal naive flocks that have no history of previous exposure. Additionally, very little is known about pathogenicity and immunogenicity factors of this disease which leads to inaccurate diagnoses. Read full initiative...

Ornithobacterium rhinotracheale in Turkey Production - 9/14/23

Ornithobacterium rhinotracheale (ORT) causes a highly contagious respiratory disease in poultry and has been identified as a top disease of concern by industry veterinarians in the turkey industry since 2016. Currently, there is no commercial vaccine approved for the industry to utilize, and options for preventing infection are limited to production practices such as biosecurity and water management. In addition, treatment options for ORT are limited. Because of the similarity of symptoms of ORT infections to other respiratory pathogens, infections may often be misdiagnosed. Therefore, a reliable and accurate diagnostic tool would benefit the poultry industry. Read full initiative...