Towards a Better Use of Antimicrobials on Farms: Insights from a Participatory Approach in the French Pig and Poultry Sectors.

Despite the strong decrease in antimicrobial use in the French poultry and pig sectors over the last decade, room for improvement remains. A participatory approach was set up in France, involving representatives of veterinarians, the pig and poultry industries, technical institutes, the French Ministry of Agriculture, and researchers, to further improve how antimicrobials are used on farms. By successively defining a shared, long-term vision of future antimicrobial use on farms, identifying lock-in mechanisms impeding this future vision from being realized, and articulating practical questions on how to move in the desired direction, the group rapidly reached a consensus.

Cluster of atherosclerosis in a captive population of black kites (Milvus migrans subsp.) in France and effect of nutrition on the plasma lipid profile.

From January 2010 to March 2013, a captive colony of 83 black kites (Milvus migrans subsp.) in France experienced increased mortality related to atherosclerosis with an incidence of 4.4% per year.

A low-pathogenic avian influenza H6N1 outbreak in a turkey flock in France: a comprehensive case report.

Based on a case observed and investigated on a commercial turkey farm in western France in 81-day-old birds, we report the pattern of H6N1 low-pathogenic avian influenza in this species. Diseased birds displayed an acute severe dyspnoea, leading to death by asphyxia of more than 5% of the flock. The most specific pathological feature was a constant diffuse infraorbital sinusitis, along with a focal necrotic exudate inside the lumen of the upper respiratory tract, characterized microscopically as a mixed fibrinous and leucocytic material.

Assessment of newcastle disease vaccination of houbara bustard breeders (Chlamydotis undulata undulata).

The houbara bustard (Chlamydotis undulata undulata) is endangered in North Africa. Through a captive-breeding program established in Morocco by The Emirates Center for Wildlife Propagation, wild populations are being supplemented by the releasing of captive-reared birds. Newcastle disease, which is caused by Newcastle disease virus (NDV; Avian paramyxovirus type 1), can infect houbara bustards and is a significant threat through contact with backyard poultry and possibly wild birds.