438 results match your criteria: "U. S. National Poultry Research Center[Affiliation]"

Infectious Laryngotracheitis Virus and Avian Metapneumovirus: A Comprehensive Review.

Pathogens

January 2025

College of Pharmacy, Yeungnam University, Gyeongsan-si 38541, Gyeongsangbuk-do, Republic of Korea.

Respiratory avian viral diseases significantly impact the world poultry sector, leading to notable economic losses. The highly contagious DNA virus, infectious laryngotracheitis virus, and the RNA virus, avian metapneumovirus, are well known for their prevalent effects on avian respiratory systems. The infectious laryngotracheitis virus (ILTV), stemming from the family, manifests as an upper respiratory disease within birds.

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Detection of aflatoxin B level and revelation of its dynamic accumulation process using visible/near-infrared hyperspectral and microscopic imaging.

Int J Food Microbiol

January 2025

Beijing Key Laboratory of Optimization Design for Modern Agriculture Equipment, College of Engineering, China Agriculture University, Beijing 100083, China.

Understanding and controlling the dynamic process of aflatoxin B (AFB) accumulation by Aspergillus flavus (A. flavus) remains challenging. In this study, the A.

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Fusarium mycotoxins often co-occur in broiler feed, and their presence negatively impacts health even at subclinical concentrations, so there is a need to identify the concentrations of these toxins that do not adversely affect chickens health and performance. The study was conducted to evaluate the least toxic effects of combined mycotoxins fumonisins (FUM), deoxynivalenol (DON), and zearalenone (ZEA) on the production performance, immune response, intestinal morphology, and nutrient digestibility of broiler chickens. A total of 960 one-day-old broilers were distributed into eight dietary treatments: T1 (Control); T2: 33.

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A review of the environmental spread of Salmonella enterica serovars through water in Africa.

Lett Appl Microbiol

January 2025

Egg and Poultry Production Safety Research Unit, U.S. Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service, U.S. National Poultry Research Center, Athens, GA, U.S.A.

Salmonella is an enteric pathogenic bacterium in mammals that thrives in sewage, soil, and aquatic environments because of its wide ecological adaptability. The spread of Salmonella infection is associated with a lack of clean water, poor hygiene, and poor sanitation in developing countries. However, the input of Salmonella-contaminated surface water and groundwater in the environmental dissemination of antimicrobial-resistant Salmonella is obscure outside developed countries.

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Immune responses of chickens against recombinant Salmonella enterica serotype Heidelberg FimA and FimW fimbriae and FliD and FlgK flagellar proteins.

Vet Immunol Immunopathol

December 2024

Southeast Area, Agricultural Research Service, U. S. Department of Agriculture, 840 Oval Drive, Raleigh, NC 27606, USA.

Implementation of a vaccination program is one of the most effective means to control infectious diseases during food animal production. Salmonella, a Gram-negative bacterium, is a leading bacterial cause of human foodborne illnesses worldwide. The major source of this microorganism for human infection is from consumption of unsanitary poultry products.

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Avian Reovirus: From Molecular Biology to Pathogenesis and Control.

Viruses

December 2024

Southeast Poultry Research Laboratory, U.S. National Poultry Research Center, United States Department of Agriculture-Agricultural Research Service (USDA-ARS), Athens, GA 30605, USA.

Avian reoviruses (ARVs) represent a significant economic burden on the poultry industry due to their widespread prevalence and potential pathogenicity. These viruses, capable of infecting a diverse range of avian species, can lead to a variety of clinical manifestations, most notably tenosynovitis/arthritis. While many ARV strains are asymptomatic, pathogenic variants can cause severe inflammation and tissue damage in organs such as the tendons, heart, and liver.

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Mycotoxins, particularly deoxynivalenol (DON), are common contaminants in feed ingredients such as corn distiller's dried grains with solubles (DDGS) and pose significant risks to poultry health. This study investigated the effects of feeding naturally DON contaminated DDGS on growth performance, body composition, immunological response, and gastrointestinal health in young pullets. A total of 360, 4-week-old Hy-Line W36 pullets were randomly assigned to diets with increasing levels of naturally DON contaminated DDGS (0, 5, 10, 15, and 20%) over 28 days, resulting in dietary DON concentrations ranging from below the limit of quantification to 15.

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Improved influenza A whole-genome sequencing protocol.

Front Cell Infect Microbiol

December 2024

Southeast Poultry Research Laboratory, U.S. National Poultry Research Center, Agriculture Research Service, U.S Department of Agriculture, Athens, GA, United States.

Influenza A virus poses significant public health challenges due to its high mutation rate and zoonotic potential. Whole-genome sequencing (WGS) is crucial for monitoring and characterizing these viruses. Oxford Nanopore Technologies (ONT) and Illumina next-generation sequencing platforms are commonly used, with ONT being advantageous for its long-read capabilities, portability, and unique ability to access raw data in real-time during sequencing, making it suitable for rapid outbreak responses.

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Omics based technology application in poultry meat research.

Poult Sci

January 2025

USDA, Agricultural Research Service, U.S. National Poultry Research Center, Quality & Safety Assessment Research Unit, Athens, GA, USA.

Omics techniques, including genomics, transcriptomics, proteomics, metabolomics, and lipidomics, analyze entire sets of biological molecules to seek comprehensive knowledge on a particular phenotype. These approaches have been extensively utilized to identify both biomarkers and biological mechanisms for various physiological conditions in livestock and poultry. The purpose of this symposium was not only to focus on how recent omics technologies can be used to gather, integrate, and interpret data produced by various methodologies in poultry research, but also to highlight how omics and bioinformatics have increased our understanding of poultry meat quality problems and other complex traits.

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Corrigendum to "Buffered Peptone Water Formulation Does Not Influence Growth of pESI-positive Salmonella enterica Serovar Infantis" [J. Food Protect. 86(2) (2023) 100033].

J Food Prot

January 2025

United States Department of Agriculture - Agricultural Research Service, U.S. National Poultry Research Center, Poultry Microbiological Safety and Processing Research Unit, 950 College Station Road, Athens, GA 30605, USA.

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In Silico Genomic Analysis of Avian Influenza Viruses Isolated From Marine Seal Colonies.

Pathogens

November 2024

Exotic and Emerging Avian Diseases Research Unit, U.S. National Poultry Research Center, Agricultural Research Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) 934 College Station Road, Athens, GA 30605, USA.

Article Synopsis
  • Genetically diverse avian influenza viruses (AIVs) are commonly found in wild aquatic birds and have been increasingly detected in seals, particularly after 2016 when the highly pathogenic H5N1 clade was first identified in these marine mammals.
  • Mass die-offs of seals, particularly southern elephant seals, have raised concerns about the spillover of AIV from birds and the potential for seal-to-seal transmission.
  • The study highlights 45 years of AIV interactions with seals, emphasizing the importance of viral reassortment and the risks posed to public health due to the evolving nature of these viruses.
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Broiler chicken lameness caused by bacterial chondronecrosis with osteomyelitis (BCO) is presently amongst the most important economic and animal welfare issues faced by the poultry industry, and the estimated economic loss is around USD 150 million. BCO lameness is associated with multiple opportunistic bacterial pathogens inhabiting the respiratory and gastrointestinal tracts. In cases of immune deficiency resulting from stress, injury, or inflammation of the tissue, opportunistic pathogens, mainly spp.

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The lack of consolidated information regarding the response of wild bird species to infection with avian influenza virus (AIV) is a challenge to both conservation managers and researchers alike, with related sectors also impacted, such as public health and commercial poultry. Using two independent searches, we reviewed published literature for studies describing wild bird species experimentally infected with avian influenza to assess host species' relative susceptibility to AIVs. Additionally, we summarize broad-scale parameters for elements such as shedding duration and minimum infectious dose that can be used in transmission modelling efforts.

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Necrotic enteritis (NE) is an enteric disease of poultry that alters the structure of the gut microbial community causing dysbiosis. This 28 day experiment investigated the effects of 125% and 135% arginine diets on the gut microbial diversity and composition of broilers during a subclinical NE challenge. One hundred and twenty one-day-old chicks were randomly allocated to 4 treatments with six replicates each- Uninfected + Basal, NE + Basal, NE + Arg 125%, and NE + Arg 135% diet groups.

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A Novel Slope-Matrix-Graph Algorithm to Analyze Compositional Microbiome Data.

Microorganisms

September 2024

U.S. National Poultry Research Center, Egg & Poultry Production Safety Research Unit, Agricultural Research Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture, 950 College Station Road, Athens, GA 30605, USA.

Networks are widely used to represent relationships between objects, including microorganisms within ecosystems, based on high-throughput sequencing data. However, challenges arise with appropriate statistical algorithms, handling of rare taxa, excess zeros in compositional data, and interpretation. This work introduces a novel Slope-Matrix-Graph (SMG) algorithm to identify microbiome correlations primarily based on slope-based distance calculations.

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Mycotoxin contamination and the nutritional content of corn targeted for animal feed.

Poult Sci

December 2024

U.S. National Poultry Research Center, Toxicology & Mycotoxin Research Unit, Agricultural Research Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture, Athens, GA 30605, USA.

Article Synopsis
  • Mycotoxin contamination in corn is a significant risk factor for poultry production, with common mycotoxins including fumonisin (FUM), deoxynivalenol (DON), aflatoxin (AFB1), and zearalenone (ZEA) detected in all corn samples studied.
  • Almost all samples (81.71%) contained multiple mycotoxins, with 38.41% showing two, 36.59% showing three, and 4.88% showing all four types of mycotoxins.
  • The study found that different mycotoxins impacted the nutrient content of corn differently, affecting levels of fat, starch, protein, and moisture, indicating that co-contamination
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Morphologic characterization and cytokine response of chicken bone-marrow derived dendritic cells to infection with high and low pathogenic avian influenza virus.

Front Immunol

September 2024

Exotic and Emerging Avian Disease Research Unit, U.S National Poultry Research Center, Agricultural Research Service, United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), Athens, GA, United States.

Article Synopsis
  • Dendritic cells (DCs) play a crucial role in the immune system by capturing and presenting antigens, particularly in response to infections like avian influenza virus (AIV) in chickens.
  • The study investigates the effects of high pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) and low pathogenic avian influenza (LPAI) on chicken bone marrow-derived DCs, highlighting significant immune responses, morphological changes, and viral replication.
  • Key findings include strong proinflammatory responses and distinctive changes in cell shape leading to cell death, indicating a dysregulated immune response more prevalent in HPAI infections compared to LPAI.
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Sequencing of historic samples provides complete coding sequences of chicken calicivirus from the United States.

Microbiol Resour Announc

October 2024

Exotic and Emerging Avian Viral Disease Research Unit, Southeast Poultry Research Laboratory, U.S. National Poultry Research Center, ARS, USDA, Athens, Georgia, USA.

Here, we report the coding-complete genomic sequences of two chicken caliciviruses from US poultry flocks in 2003 and 2004. They show the same genomic organization as that of other members of the genus and have the highest nucleotide identity (~88%) with strains from clinically normal chickens from Germany in 2004 and Netherlands in 2019.

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Article Synopsis
  • COVID-19, caused by the SARS-CoV-2 virus, emerged globally in 2019, impacting health and the economy, leading to the development of various vaccine types.
  • Researchers tested an intranasal vaccine using a Newcastle disease virus vector expressing the SARS-CoV-2 Beta variant spike protein in mice, finding it effective against subsequent viral challenges.
  • The study showed that intranasal vaccination induced strong mucosal immunity and high survival rates, suggesting it could be a promising candidate for protecting against COVID-19.
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Bacterial chondronecrosis with osteomyelitis (BCO) lameness is a major welfare issue for broiler production worldwide affecting approximately 1.5% of broilers over 42 days old. Excessive body weight gain causes mechanical stress on long bones, leading to micro-fractures.

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A Review of the Stability of Avian Influenza Virus in Materials from Poultry Farms.

Avian Dis

September 2023

Southeast Poultry Research Laboratory, U.S. National Poultry Research Center, United States Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service, Athens, Georgia, 30605, USA,

Avian influenza virus (AIV) is widespread among poultry and wild waterfowl. The severity of the disease is variable and the highly pathogenic form can rapidly kill numerous avian species. Understanding the stability of AIV infectivity in different substrates in the environment of poultry facilities is critical to developing processes to effectively decontaminate or safely dispose of potentially contaminated material.

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Avian influenza poses a severe threat to poultry production and global food security, prompting the development of vaccination programs in numerous countries. Modified live virus (MLV) vaccines, with their potential for mass application, offer a distinct advantage over existing options. However, concerns surrounding reversion, recombination, and unintended transmission have hindered the progress of MLV development for avian influenza in poultry.

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Strains of are a frequent cause of foodborne illness and are known to contaminate poultry products. Most testing methods can qualitatively detect and cannot quantify or estimate the load in samples. Therefore, the aim of this study was to standardize and validate a partitioned-based digital PCR (dPCR) assay for the detection and estimation of contamination levels in poultry rinses.

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