reakthrough in poultry industry November 2, 2004 8:26pm
OCT 30 BY Muhammad Mazhar Ayaz & Masood Akhtar - The poultry industry faces many outbreaks like viral, bacterial and parasitic diseases through out the world but with timely diagnosis and treatment, the colossal amount of loss can be avoided. The burning issue of avian influenza (a viral epidemic) was also a small un-noticed problem but with the passage of time, it became a worldwide issue highlighted on the front page of every copy of papers published daily. Similarly botulism and salmonellosis are bacterial problems of zoonotic importance causing time to time problems in the community. If some timely steps may be taken, these problems are no problems. In the a similar fashion, only the parasitic problems like coccidiosis in poultry is the only disease that causes havoc only in poultry, not causing any health threat to the community and its treatment is very easy, mostly in the form of medication in feed given to the birds. But it is more costly as $100 billion are spent annually in USA. - some times this problem faces immunity and resistance against most commonly offered medication. Some efforts has been made to safeguard consumers against bad effects of medication and to safeguard the poultry against disease through safe method like immunization or vaccination against coccidiosis in birds. Here is a brief account of this disease that Intestinal or caecal coccidiosis caused by intracellular protozoa, belonging to the genus Eimeria (Phylum Apicomplexa) is a major cause of concern and economic losses to the poultry industry worldwide, It is estimated that the economic losses due to the disease are about US$ 450 million and due to medication are about US$ 100 million in the United States. In countries like Pakistan, where the farming is substandard, the disease becomes more serious and causes heavy economic losses; although the exact losses due to coccidiosis in Pakistan are not known due to the lack of statistical indices but these will be definite in million of rupees and no such work of calculation has been done so far by any agency and its need is highly emphasized to know the exact losses occurred by various diseases. Seven species of Eimeria (E. tenella, E. ace,vulina, E. maxima, E. necatflx, E. mitis, E. praecox and E. bnlnett,) are generally accepted to be the causative agent of avian coccidiosis. Eimeuia (E) tenella and E. maxima are considered to be the most important to the poultry industry from consideration of their ubiquity in broiler chicks, innate pathogenicity and immunological features. In Pakistan, E. tenella is the most prevalent and pathogenic species. The conventional methods to control the disease are by using certain coccidiostats/ coccidiocidal drugs, but the emergence of resistant strains against the most commonly available drugs, high cost on bird production incurred due to the shift over of the medicines and sometimes the toxicity of drugs, has out dated these methods. Obviously, an alternative system to control the disease is by vaccination. Different attempts have been made on the development of vaccines(s) against coccidiosis, including live, attenuated, tissue culture, recombinant and subunit vaccines, but none of the vaccine has shown promising results and reached to the status of commercialization worldwide. - lmmunocox®, an imported live vaccine, has failed to control coccidiosis in Pakistan and may cause the disease in vaccinated birds. In the preliminary studies, an experimental vaccine from sonicated inactivated sporulated oocysts was prepared in the Department of Veterinary Parasitology and was evaluated on the basis of immunilogical studies like cellular, humoral and challenge responses and that vaccine gave encouraging results, but that could not be commercialized due to the unavailability of antigenic material on large scale as it is required by every bird. It was, therefore, imperative to adopt the strategies that lead to the production of antigenic material on large scale to be used in vaccine preparation. Here we declare that in the initial studies we have been successful in preparation of such a vaccine that can cop with the demands of ever growing poultry industry not only in Pakistan but beyond the boundaries too and can be successful weapon to control this coccidiosis in poultry. It is also a panacea of this disease and no more feed additive anticoccidial drug will be required to import, that can save our economy from extra burden of un necessary usage of medicine in birds.
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