Publications by authors named "C Hofacre"

Salmonella enteretidis (SE) has a great propensity to translocate from the cecum into internal organs such as the spleen and liver. However, a major concern is the ability of SE to colonize the ovaries. This study aimed to evaluate the efficacy of cell walls from Saccharomyces cerevisiae to control the Salmonella load in the ceca and ovaries of commercial layer pullets.

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Infectious bronchitis virus (IBV) is a contagious coronavirus causing respiratory and urogenital disease in chickens and is responsible for significant economic losses for both the broiler and table egg layer industries. Despite IBV being regularly monitored using standard epidemiologic surveillance practices, knowledge and evidence of risk factors associated with IBV transmission remain limited. The study objective was to compare risk factor modeling outcomes between a traditional stepwise variable selection approach and a machine learning-based random forest Boruta algorithm using routinely collected IBV antibody titer data from broiler flocks.

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Article Synopsis
  • - Necrotic enteritis in poultry is caused by the bacterium Clostridium perfringens, and researchers developed nanobodies that can bind and neutralize key toxins produced by this bacterium.
  • - A total of six effective nanobodies were identified, showing high activity against these toxins and stability in chicken gastrointestinal fluids, and they were expressed using two different microbial systems (Pichia pastoris and Bacillus subtilis).
  • - When chickens were fed with these nanobodies incorporated either in supernatants or as spores, mortality rates significantly decreased, highlighting the potential for using nanobody technology to better control necrotic enteritis in poultry.
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During a series of pathology surveys in four production complexes of a U.S. broiler integrator, the technical services veterinarians of an animal health company noted a high incidence of severe gizzard erosions and ulcerations (GEU), prompting further clinical investigation and a battery trial.

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The poultry industry has been facing the impact of necrotic enteritis (NE), a disease caused by the bacterium producing the haemolytic toxin NetB. NE severity may vary from mild clinical to prominent enteric signs causing reduced growth rates and affecting feed conversion ratio. NetB production is controlled by the Agr-like quorum-sensing (QS) system, which coordinates virulence gene expression in response to bacterial cell density.

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