Background and Aim: Clostridium perfringens is one of the multiple drug-resistant intestinal pathogens causing necrotic enteritis disease, leading to great economic losses in poultry farms. This study aimed to evaluate the potential use of peppermint oil and its microemulsion (ME) as an alternative to antibiotics to control necrotic enteritis in broiler chickens. Materials and Methods: Peppermint oil ME formulation (15% oil/water) was prepared and characterized by zeta potential, Fourier transform infrared, high-resolution transmission electron microscopy, and liquid chromatography–mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS). The minimal inhibitory concentrations of the peppermint oil and its ME were investigated. A total of 80 commercial one day old Arbor Acres broiler chickens were randomly assigned to four groups of 20 birds each. The four groups were the negative control, positive control, peppermint oil (0.5 mL/mL water/10 days old), and its ME (0.25 mL/mL water/10 days old) groups. C. perfringens was orally provided at concentration of 1×108 CFU/mL on days 14, 15, and 16. Clinical signs and mortality were observed daily. Growth performance, gross lesions and cecal samples were investigated and examined on days 21, 28, and 35. Results: Peppermint oil ME formulation has a polydispersity index, zeta potential and droplet size of 0.234, –24 mV±4.19, and 29.96±1.56 nm, respectively. LC–MS/MS analysis of oil and ME revealed common presence of phenolic compounds such as rosmorinic (360.31 g/mol), chlorogenic acid (354.31 g/mol), hesperidin (610.56 g/mol), and luteolin 7-O-β- glucuronide (462.1 g/mol). The treated groups with peppermint oil and ME showed lower lesions, mortality and colony-forming units in addition to higher growth performance (p<0.05) compared to the positive control group. Conclusion: Our study suggests the potential efficacy of peppermint oil and ME in the reduction of necrotic enteritis lesions and C. perfringens count.

Multidrug resistance poses a global threat to the poultry industry and public health, so the direction towards eliminating the use of antibiotics and finding alternatives is a vital step to solve this problem. Thyme microemulsion (10% oil/water) had nanodrop size 28.65 ± 0.89 nm, with a polydispersity index (PDI) of 0.28 with greater homogeneity. It showed IC₅₀ > 100 ug/ml on cytotoxicity assay and 14 active components by GC-Mass. The study was carried out using 210 Cobb chicks divided into fourteen groups. The infected groups were challenged using two Salmonella Enteritidis multidrug resistance (MDR) and Salmonella Enteritidis sensitive strains to the sulpha-trimethoprim antibiotic. The challenged inoculum was 1 × 10⁹ CFU of Salmonella Enteritidis by oral route. The MIC treatments doses were 1 ml/liter water for thyme oil and thyme microemulsion and 33.34 mg/kg b.wt sulfadiazine for 5 days. The results showed that both thymol oil (0.1%) and microemulsion (0.01%) are able to decrease the count of Salmonella Enteritidis in cecal content and fecal dropping and the mortality rates after five days of treatment. In addition, thyme oil and microemulsion had no pathological alteration on chickens’ tissues that were collected two weeks after giving the treatment. By the robust HPLC method, the SDZ and TMP residues in tissues of infected groups treated with Cotrimazine® + thyme oil microemulsion had a slight significant economic impact ( ) compared to Cotrimazine® alone. In conclusion, thymol oil and microemulsion could be an alternative economic choice for multidrug resistance Salmonella Enteritidis treatment in poultry farms.

This work aimed to focus on the antibacterial properties of garlic nanoemulsion on some multidrug resistance (MDR) strains of Pseudomonas aeruginosaisolated from broiler farms and hatcheries in Sharkia and Ismailia governorates, Egypt. Pseudomonas spp. was isolated in 21.3% of collected samples. It was isolated from younger broilers 1-10 days with an incidence rate of 22% (11/50), older broilers 16% (8/50), dead embryo in shell 31.4% (11/35), and from hatcheries was 13.3% (2/15). There was a variable range of antibiotic resistance ranging from 66.7-100% against the isolated strains of P. aeruginosa. Tetracycline and sulfamethoxazole-trimethoprim achieved the highest resistance rates, while penicillin and gentamycin were of a lower rate. However, norfloxacin, ciprofloxacin, and colistin were the most sensitive antibiotics against examined MDR P. aeruginosa.16SrDNA gene was found in ten P. aeruginosa isolates. Theseisolates were found to be virulent as oprL gene was detected in all isolates 100%. In addition, tetA(A),blaTEM,arr, and mexRantibiotic resistance genes were shown positive 100% in all MDR P. aeruginosa isolates. Minimum Inhibitory Concentration (MIC) values showed that garlic nanoemulsion (GN) was effective against examined P. aeruginosa at different concentrations. GN had 29.61% sulfur compounds of active components with 0.52 ug/ml of IC50 and 40.94 nm size with polydispersity index: 0.165 using dynamic light scattering had a 19.6± 5.11mV. In conclusion, the application of garlic nanoemulsion is an excellent alternative candidate to antibiotics for treatment because it significantly reduced the gene expression levels of MDR P. aeruginosa in broiler farms.

Lumpy Skin Disease (LSD) is a notifiable viral disease caused by Lumpy Skin Disease virus (LSDV). It is usually associated with high economic losses, including a loss of productivity, infertility, and death. LSDV shares genetic and antigenic similarities with Sheep pox virus (SPV) and Goat pox (GPV) virus. Hence, the LSDV traditional diagnostic tools faced many limitations regarding sensitivity, specificity, and cross-reactivity. Herein, we fabricated a paper-based turn-on fluorescent Molecularly Imprinted Polymer (MIP) sensor for the rapid detection of LSDV. The LSDV-MIPs sensor showed strong fluorescent intensity signal enhancement in response to the presence of the virus within minutes. Our sensor showed a limit of detection of 10¹ log₁₀ TCID50/mL. Moreover, it showed significantly higher specificity to LSDV relative to other viruses, especially SPV. To our knowledge, this is the first record of a paper-based rapid detection test for LSDV depending on fluorescent turn-on behavior.

In the last few years, inorganic nanosystems, or nanometals, were of great interest to conventional therapy. In this study, Copper Chitosan Nanocomposite (CuCNP) was monitored for its antiviral, immune-stimulant, and lowering agent of Cu residue roles by using Chicken Anemia Virus (CAV) as a model. CuCNP is a metallic oxide nanocomposite with specific properties, such as sphere shape, no aggregation, and narrow size distribution 24.71±1.68 nm PdI: 0.691±0.02. We grouped 100 broiler chicks into four groups. Group 1 served as a regular negative control group. In drinking water, G2 was treated with CuCNP 1 mg/ml for five days. The G3 was infected with 0.2 ml I/M of CAV strain (MN339532) at one day old with CuCNP 1 mg/ml in drinking water for five days. G4 virus-positive control group with viral 3.987×106 virus copies/ml. Different serum and organ tissue homogenate samples were collected at different time intervals to measure residues, CAV viral concentration in organs, and serum to monitor cellular and humoral immunity. The excellent results of CuCNP are improving the innate immune response phagocytic activity, lysozyme, and NO, also cytokine levels mRNA of IFN-γ, IL-6, and IL-10 in G2 and G3 and elevating CAV antibody titers with decreases the CAV viral load in organs with a noticeable decrease of its residues in G2 and G3. The current study provides evidence of the immunostimulatory effect of CuCNP on CAV infection. It clarifies a constant reduction of CuCNP residues in broilers muscle and liver tissues, keeping its levels below Cu maximum residual limits (MRLs).

In this study, the efficiency of the ceftiofur N-acyl homoserine lactonase niosome against multi-resistant Klebsiella pneumoniae in broilers was evaluated. Fifty-six K. pneumoniae isolates previously recovered from different poultry and environmental samples were screened for the ahlK gene. The lactonase enzyme was extracted from eight quorum-quenching isolates. The niosome was formulated, characterized, and tested for minimal inhibitory concentration (MIC) and cytotoxicity. Fourteen-day-old chicks were assigned to six groups: groups Ӏ and П served as negative and positive controls, receiving saline and K. pneumoniae solutions, respectively. In groups Ш and IV, ceftiofur and niosome were administrated intramuscularly at a dose of 10 mg/kg body weight for five consecutive days, while groups V and VI received the injections following the K. pneumoniae challenge. Signs, mortality, and gross lesions were recorded. Tracheal swabs were collected from groups П, V, and VI for counting K. pneumoniae. Pharmacokinetic parameters were evaluated in four treated groups at nine-time points. The niosome was spherical and 56.5 ± 4.41 nm in size. The viability of Vero cells was unaffected up to 5 × MIC (2.4 gml⁻¹). The niosome-treated challenged group showed mild signs and lesions with lower mortality and colony count than the positive control group. The maximum ceftiofur serum concentrations in treated groups were observed 2 h following administration. The elimination half-life in niosome-treated groups was longer than that reported in ceftiofur-treated groups. This is the first report of the administration of N-acyl homoserine lactonase for the control of multi-resistant K. pneumoniae infections in poultry.