The poultry sector is facing infections from Salmonella, Campylobacter, Listeria and Staphylococcus spp., and Escherichia coli, that have developed multidrug resistance aptitude. Antibiotics cause disturbances in the balance of normal microbiota leading to dysbiosis, immunosuppression, and the development of secondary infections. Bacteriophages have been reported to lower the colonization of Salmonella and Campylobacter in poultry. The specificity of bacteriophages is greater than that of antibiotics and can be used as a cocktail for enhanced antibacterial activity. Specie-specific phages have been prepared, e.g., Staphylophage (used against Staphylococcus bacteria) that specifically eliminate bacterial pathogens. Bacteriophage products, e.g., BacWash^TM and Ecolicide PX have been developed as antiseptics and disinfectants for effective biosecurity and biosafety measures. The success of phage therapy is influenced by time to use, the amount used, the delivery mechanism, and combination therapy with other therapeutics. It is a need of time to build a comprehensive understanding of the use of bacteriophages in poultry production. The current review thus focuses on mechanisms of bacteriophages against poultry pathogens, their applications in various therapeutics, impacts on the economy, and current challenges.

Ticks (Acari: Ixodidae) are blood-feeding parasites capable of transmitting diseases to animals (Piroplasmosis) and humans (Congo fever, Lyme disease). The non-judicious use of chemical acaricides has led to the development of acaricide-resistant ticks, making the control of ticks and tick-borne diseases difficult. This study reports the efficacy of magnesium oxide (MgO), iron oxide (Fe₂O₃), and zinc oxide (ZnO) nanoparticles (NPs) as alternatives to traditional acaricides/pesticides using in vitro tests against major representative stages of Hyalomma ticks. Nanopesticides were chemically synthesized as rods (Fe₂O₃), stars (ZnO), and spheres (MgO) and were characterized by XRD and SEM analysis. The in vitro bioassays included adult immersion, larval immersion, and larval packet tests. Non-target effects of the nanopesticides were evaluated using snails. The LC₉₀ values of Fe₂O₃ NPs (4.21, 2.83, 0.89 mg/L) were lowest followed by MgO (4.27, 2.91, 0.93 mg/L) and ZnO (4.49, 3.05, 0.69 mg/L), for the tick adult, larval and egg stages, respectively. Fe₂O₃ NPs were capable of arresting oviposition and larval hatching in the study ticks in vitro. The snail toxicity experiments revealed minimum to mild off-target effects for all nanopesticides tested. This study is the first to report the comparative efficacy of magnesium, iron, and zinc nanomaterials for toxicity in egg, adult and larval stages of Hyalomma ticks. Further studies of NPs on establishing the efficacy against ticks and safety at host-human-environment interface could lead to promising nanopesticde applications.

Control of the cattle tick Rhipicephalus (R.) microplus mainly relies on chemical acaricides and cypermethrin is the most widely used acaricide in Pakistan. Farmers frequently complain about its low efficacy, thus, the present study was designed to quantify the frequency of cypermethrin resistance in cattle ticks. Engorged female R. microplus were collected and tested for the efficacy of cypermethrin using the FAO-recommended larval packet test. Resistance factors (RF) were estimated at both the lethal concentration for 50% (LC₅₀) and 99% (LC₉₉) of ticks. Thirty-three samples were tested, of which 8/33 (24.24%) were classified as resistant based on the RF₅₀, and all 33 were classified as resistant based on the RF₉₉. In District Sargodha, when only the RF₅₀ was considered, 45.5% of samples were classified as resistant, but at RF₉₉, all tested samples were identified as resistant. In District Okara, the variation in RF₅₀ estimates was 2.2–8.3 and variation in RF₉₉ estimates was 10.6–1139.8. Similar results were found in District Attock, where variations in RF₅₀ were 0.8–8.5 and RF₉₉ ranged from 9–237.3. The study showed that cypermethrin resistance is prevalent in these three districts of Pakistan and is likely to be overestimated by classification based on the RF₉₉.

Lumpy skin disease (LSD) of cattle, caused by the lumpy skin disease virus (LSDV), results in significant economic losses and restricted cross-border livestock trade. Although live attenuated vaccines are commercially available, the inactivated vaccines would be an appropriate substitute because they are devoid of any adverse reaction and cannot mutate to produce new viral strains. The objectives of this study were to develop an inactivated oil-adjuvanted vaccine using a local isolate of LSDV and to evaluate the immune response of this vaccine in rabbits. The LSDV was isolated from scab samples of suspected cows by inoculating embryonated chicken eggs via the chorioallantoic membrane route. One of the isolates was adapted to grow in Madin-Darby bovine kidney cells, followed by its inactivation with binary ethyleneimine. Montanide ISA50 V2 was added as an adjuvant. A total of 24 rabbits were divided into three groups of eight each; Group A received our inactivated vaccine while Group B was given a commercial live vaccine. Group C served as a non-vaccinated control. The mean antibody titers were statistically analyzed by Dunnett’s test. The D-value of 77.78 indicated that the vaccine produced protective antibodies.

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