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At least 991 records · Page 55Linked to original sources
PubMed2001

Recurrent diarrhea associated with enterotoxigenic Clostridium perfringens in 2 dogs.

Two dogs were diagnosed with enterotoxigenic Clostridium perfringens-associated diarrhea. Diarrhea was responsive to antimicrobial therapy, but recurred after treatment was ceased. Clostridium perfringens enterotoxin was present in feces during diarrheic episodes but not when feces were normal. Both dogs responded to a prolonged course of oral cephalexin and dietary modification.

Animals↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Reduced incidence of Clostridium perfringens-associated lesions and improved performance in broiler chickens treated with normal intestinal bacteria from adult fowl.

The dosing of young chicks with cultures of normal gut flora has been termed "competitive exclusion" (CE). This study was undertaken to examine, under field conditions, the effect of CE treatment on counts of intestinal Clostridium perfringens (CP) and on the occurrence of CP-associated disease in broiler chickens. A farm having recurrent CP-associated health problems was selected as study site. The study comprised four broiler houses, with one treated and one untreated flock per house. Treated birds were sprayed with the CE product Broilact upon arrival at the farm. All flocks were offered feed containing the ionophorous anticoccidial agent narasin. The feed did not contain growth promoters. Treatment was associated with positive but statistically nonsignificant effects on gut health. Delayed intestinal proliferation of CP and delayed appearance of CP-associated gut lesions were found in CE-treated flocks. This delay was associated with improved production performance at slaughter.

Animal Feed↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Efficacy of narasin in the prevention of necrotic enteritis in broiler chickens.

The efficacy of narasin in the control of necrotic enteritis (NE) was investigated in a floor pen study of 2000 broiler chickens using a Clostridium perfringens feed inoculum challenge model. Treatments were 1) nonmedicated, nonchallenged; 2) nonmedicated, challenged; 3) narasin, nonchallenged; 4) narasin, challenged. Narasin was administered at 70 ppm in the feed from day 0 to trial termination on day 41. Challenge inoculum contained approximately 1 x 10(8) colony-forming units CP/ml and was administered from day 14 to day 16. In the unmedicated groups, challenged birds had significantly (P < 0.05) lower mean body weight and reduced feed efficiency at day 21 and significantly (P < 0.01) higher cumulative NE mortality at day 41 compared with unchallenged. Similarly, among unmedicated birds, those challenged had a significantly (P < 0.01) higher mean NE score on day 17 and significantly (P < 0.05) higher mean huddling scores on days 15-17 than unchallenged. Among challenged birds, those fed narasin had significantly (P < 0.05) higher mean body weight and improved feed efficiency at days 21 and 41 and significantly (P < 0.01) lower cumulative NE mortality at day 41 than unmedicated. Similarly, among challenged birds, those receiving narasin had a lower mean NE score on day 17 (P > 0.05) and significantly (P < 0.05) lower huddling scores on days 16 and 17 than unmedicated. Coccidiosis lesion scores were zero for birds euthanatized from all treatment groups on day 17, suggesting that the beneficial effects of narasin were not due to prevention of coccidiosis. This study thus provides evidence that narasin is effective in the prevention of necrotic enteritis in broiler chickens.

Animal Feed↗
PubMedDate not supplied

A field study of naturally occurring specific antibodies against Clostridium perfringens alpha toxin in Norwegian broiler flocks.

Necrotic enteritis (NE), a disease associated with high numbers of the intestinal bacterium Clostridium perfringens, is common in intensive broiler production. Antimicrobial feed additives may control the disease, but their use is now being questioned in many countries. A field study was undertaken at the end of 1997 to study the level of naturally occurring specific humoral immunity against phospholipase C (PLC; C perfringens alpha toxin) in Norwegian broiler flocks. Blood samples were collected at hatch from 61 study flocks, and the sampling was repeated for 56 of the same flocks at processing. The level of specific antibodies against PLC was analyzed in an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) test. Data on production performance and weekly mortality were recorded. The relationship between the age of the hens and the level of specific maternal antibodies in the progenies was studied. The association between the level of the maternal antibodies and the production performance, including mortality, was analyzed. The level of specific antibodies against PLC in day-old broiler flocks was relatively high and varied considerably compared with the levels in the broilers at processing. The progenies from the oldest hens had significantly higher levels of specific antibodies than the chicks from younger hens. No outbreak of NE occurred during the study period, making it impossible to analyze the association between naturally occurring specific immunity against PLC and the occurrence of the disease. However, the results showed that the flocks with high titers of specific maternal antibodies against PLC had lower mortality during the production period than flocks with low titers.

Age Factors↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Enteritis as a cause of mortality in the western bluebird (Sialia mexicana).

Increased mortalities in adult western bluebirds utilizing nestboxes were noted in western Oregon during 1998 and 1999. A necrohemorrhagic enteritis was found in 8 of 10 birds submitted for necropsy. Acanthocephalan parasites were present in four of eight birds with enteritis. Microscopic changes consistent with necrotic or ulcerative enteritis were commonly present. Anaerobic culture of the intestine yielded Clostridium perfringens in three of three birds. Genotype analysis of two of these isolates revealed them to be C. perfringens type A. Bacterial enteritis is believed to be the cause of the increased mortality rate, but further investigation is required to prove a definitive link to a clostridial agent.

Acanthocephala↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Prevalence of Clostridium perfringens in commercial broiler hatcheries.

Clostridium perfringens, a cause of human foodborne and poultry disease, has been isolated from the intestinal tract of poultry and from the processed carcass. Little is known about the incidence and sources of this pathogen in the poultry production environment. To determine if the broiler hatchery is a possible source of C. perfringens, we collected samples from three hatcheries, each operated by a different poultry integrator, and the presence of C. perfringens in these samples was determined. For each sampling period, eggshell fragments, chick fluff from the hatcher, and paper pads stored in the hatchery before use with chicks and after placement beneath chicks for 1 hr were evaluated. Clostridium perfringens was found in eggshell fragments, fluff, and paper pads in each of the three hatcheries. The percentages of C. perfringens-positive samples from the three hatcheries ranged from 13% to 23%, with an overall incidence of 20%. Positive samples were consistently found, i.e., detected on each of the nine sampling days (three sampling days for each of three hatcheries). These results suggest that the hatchery is a potential source/reservoir for C. perfringens in the integrated poultry operation.

Animals↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Incidence of Clostridium perfringens in broiler chickens and their environment during production and processing.

During a calendar year, a study was conducted involving 16 broiler flocks on four different farms, two farms belonging to each of two major U.S. poultry integrators. As determined by the detection of Clostridium perfringens in fecal or cecal samples, 15 (94%) of the flocks became positive for this bacterial enteropathogen, and only one remained negative throughout the 6-to-8-wk rearing period. Paper pads beneath chicks that were transported from the hatchery to the rearing house were contaminated with C. perfringens in 15 (94%) of the flocks. When sampled biweekly through grow out, 13 of the flocks were C. perfringens positive at 2 wk of age. These results suggest that colonization of the intestinal tract of broilers by C. perfringens is an early event. Of the environmental samples, all but feed in the hopper were contaminated before placement for at least one of the rearing periods. All sample types were contaminated at some point during the 6-to-8-wk grow-out period. Of the on-farm environmental samples, the highest incidences (percentage positive) of C. perfringens were detected in wall swabs (53%), fan swabs (46%), fly strips (43%), dirt outside the house entrance (43%), and swabs of workers' boots (29%). Birds were usually transported to the processing plant in coops that were already contaminated with C. perfringens. In the plant, C. perfringens was isolated more frequently from samples of scald water than from those of chill water. Clostridium perfringens was recovered from broiler carcasses after chilling in 13 (81%) of the 16 flocks. The proportion of C. perfringens-positive carcasses for the contaminated flocks ranged from 8% to 68% with a mean of 30%.

Animal Feed↗
PubMed1976

Anaerobic infections in children: a prospective study.

The prevalence and significance of anaerobic infections in patients at St. Louis Children's Hospital were studied prospectively for a one-year period. Blood, selected body fluids, and aspirates obtained from abscesses or areas of cellulitis were cultured using special anaerobic collection and processing techniques. Infected peritoneal fluid from patients with gastrointestinal disease yielded a large proportion of all anaerobic isolates. The types of organisms isolated were common inhabitants of the intestinal tract. Anaerobic organisms were recovered from only 0.75% of all blood cultures; anaerobic bacteremia accounted for 5.8% of all clinically significant bacteremic episodes (8.7% in the neonatal period and 4.8% in children over 1 month of age). Serious anaerobic infections occurred more frequently in the compromised host or in newborn infants than in otherwise healthy children. Since anaerobic organisms cause a small proportion of infectious diseases in a general pediatric population, the cost of refined bacteriologic techniques for the isolation and identification of these organisms is not warranted in most community hospitals. However, such a program should be available in selected tertiary care centers to aid in the management of certain high-risk patients.

Anti-Bacterial Agents↗
PubMed1992

[Role of hyperbaric oxygenation in the treatment of acute anaerobic infections].

Hyperbaric oxygenation (HBO), as an adjuvant treatment in necrotizing soft tissues infections and in gas gangrene is reviewed, including its specific effects, experimental studies and clinical reports. With a global therapeutic management, considered as an emergency state, including surgery, antibiotic regimens and HBO, we can obtained 50% mortality and morbidity decrease with a more conservative surgery. Finally, favorable outcome is associated with early therapeutics and localization of the initial necrotizing infection.

Acute Disease↗
PubMedDate not supplied

The influence of diet on necrotic enteritis in broiler chickens.

Necrotic enteritis was reproduced in broiler chickens by mixing cultures of Clostridium perfringens in the feed. Mortality due to necrotic enteritis was higher among chickens fed rations based on wheat, rye, barley, and oat groats than among chickens fed corn-based rations. Addition of pentosanase to a wheat-based diet did not affect the level of mortality due to necrotic enteritis. Addition of pectin and guar gum to different rations severely reduced growth rate and eliminated necrotic enteritis from test birds. Addition of glucose to a corn-based diet caused a small increase in mortality due to necrotic enteritis.

Animal Feed↗