Background: Since 2008, a progressive pneumonia has become prevalent in broilers and laying hens. This disease occurrs the first day after hatching and lasts more than 30 days, resulting in approximately 70% morbidity and 30% mortality in broilers. The objective of this study was to isolate and identify the pathogens that are responsible for the progressive pneumonia and establish an animal model for drug screening. Results: 193 serum samples were collected from 8 intensive farms from 5 provinces in China and analysed in the current research. Our clinical survey showed that 65.2% to 100% of breeding broilers, breeding layers, broilers and laying hens were seropositive for ORT antibodies. From 8 intensive farms, six ORT isolates were identified by PCR and biochemical assays, and two H9N2 viruses were isolated. Newcastle Disease Virus (NDV) and Infectious BronchitisVirus (IBV) were excluded. Typical pneumonia and airsacculitis were observed both in broilers inoculated intraperitoneally with an ORT isolate alone and in those co-infected with ORT and H9N2 virus isolates. Specifically, the survival rate was 30%, 20%, 70%, 50% and 90% in birds inoculated with ORT+H9N2 virus, ORT followed by H9N2 virus, H9N2 virus followed by ORT, and ORT or H9N2 virus alone, respectively. Conclusions: The results of this study suggest that ORT infections of domestic poultry have been occurring frequently in China. ORT infection can induce higher economic losses and mortality if H9N2 AIV is also present. Although the isolation of ORT and H9N2 virus has been reported previously, there have been no reported co-infections of poultry with these two pathogens. This is the first report of co-infection of broilers with ORT and H9N2 virus, and this co-infection is probably associated with the outbreak of broiler airsacculitis in China, which has caused extensive economic losses.

Demand for poultry meat is rising in low- and middle-countries, driving the expansion of large commercial farms where antimicrobials are used as surrogates for hygiene, good nutrition. This routine use of antimicrobials in animal production facilitates the emergence and spread of antibiotic-resistant pathogens. Despite potentially serious consequences for the animal industry, few studies have documented trends in antimicrobial use (AMU) at the farm-level in low- and middle-income countries. The objective of this study was to estimate AMU in a broiler chicken farm in Pakistan over a five-year period and to extrapolate national AMU in commercial broiler farming. Between 2013 and 2017, we monitored AMU in 30 flocks from a commercial broiler farm in Punjab, the most populous province of Pakistan. The amount of antimicrobials administered was calculated in milligram/population unit of the final flock weight (mg/fPU) and in used daily dose (UDD). The annual on-farm antimicrobial use was 250.84 mg of active ingredient per kilogram of the final flock weight. This consumption intensity exceeds the amount of antimicrobial used per kilogram of chicken of all countries in the world except China. Measured in mg per kg of final flock weight or population unit (fPU), medically important drugs such as colistin (31.39 mg/fPU), tylosin (41.71 mg/fPU), doxycycline (81.81 mg/fPU), and enrofloxacin (26.19 mg/fPU) were the most frequently used antimicrobials for prophylactic or therapeutic use. Lincomycin was the most frequently used antimicrobial used in-feed (29.09 mg/fPU). Our findings suggest that the annual consumption of antimicrobials in the broiler sector in Pakistan could be as high as 568 tons. This alarmingly high consumption estimate is the first baseline study on antimicrobial use in animals in Pakistan. Our findings call for immediate actions to reduce antimicrobial use in Pakistan, and countries with comparable farming practices.

SARS-CoV-2, a novel Corona virus strain, was first detected in Wuhan, China, in December 2019. As of December 16, 2021, almost 4,822,472 people had died and over 236,132,082 were infected with this lethal viral infection. It is believed that the human immune system is thought to play a critical role in the initial phase of infection when the viruses invade the host cells. Although some effective vaccines have already been on the market, researchers and many bio-pharmaceuticals are still working hard to develop a fully functional vaccine or more effective therapeutic agent against the COVID-19. Other efforts, in addition to functional vaccines, can help strengthen the immune system to defeat the corona virus infection. Herein, we have reviewed some of those proven measures, following which a more efficient immune system can be better prepared to fight viral infection. Among these, dietary supplements like- fresh vegetables and fruits offer a plentiful of vitamins and antioxidants, enabling to build of a healthy immune system. While the pharmacologically active components of medicinal plants directly aid in fighting against viral infection, supplementary supplements combined with a healthy diet will assist to regulate the immune system and will prevent viral infection. In addition, some personal habits, like- regular physical exercise, intermittent fasting, and adequate sleep, had also been proven to aid the immune system in becoming an efficient one. Maintaining each of these will strengthen the immune system, allowing innate immunity to become a more defensive and active antagonistic mechanism against corona-virus infection. However, because dietary treatments take longer to produce beneficial effects in adaptive maturation, personalized nutrition cannot be expected to have an immediate impact on the global outbreak.

The current study provides information on Bacillus spp. contamination along with present status in commercially available poultry and animal feeds as well as animal-derived products in Bangladesh. The research has been conducted to determine if animal feed and its components are a source of Bacillus spp. contamination in feed and food chain. Out of 180 different feeds, milk, egg, and human stool samples, 218 Bacillus spp. were isolated and identified by cultural morphology, microscopic, biochemical, and molecular characteristics where B. cereus, B. subtilis, B. amyloliquefaciens, B. licheniformis, B. thuringiensis, B. megaterium, and B. coagulans accounted for 51, 22, 9.1, 5.9, 5, 3.6, and 2.2%, respectively. Regarding the enumeration of total viable count and total Bacillus count, correspondingly 67 and 39% samples were found to be contaminated with above 10,000 CFU/g, while highest contamination was 85 and 75% in broiler feed, respectively. The total number of bacteria above the regulatory limits in commercially available feeds indicates a poor compliance with regulation and abuse administration in the Bangladeshi market. Moreover, a hospital-based survey showed that food-borne Bacillus spp. contributed to 4.5% human diarrhea cases and 25% food contamination associated with vegetables, rice, RTE food, milk, and egg, accounting for 46, 34, 14, 4, and 2%, respectively. B. cereus was the dominant isolate correspondingly accounting for 56 and 51% egg and milk contamination followed by B. amyloliquefaciens (32%) and B. thuringiensis (12%) in egg and B. subtilis (25%), B. amyloliquefaciens (12%), B. thuringiensis (6.4%), and B. coagulans (3.2%) in milk, respectively. Toxin gene profiling of Bacillus spp. revealed that B. cereus constituted a principal part of virulence, while B. thuringiensis, B. licheniformis, B. megaterium, B. coagulans, and B. subtilis showed genetic diversity and B. amyloliquefaciens had not carried any toxin gene. Detection rate of enterotoxin genes (nheA, nheB, nheC, cytK, hblA, hblC, hblD, and entFM) showed that 55% isolates carried nheABC genes, 80% entFM, and 71% cytK, whereas only 33% of the isolates contained hblACD gene clusters. These virulence genes were posing a threat to human health due to spread across the food and feed chain. Finally, our findings support the hypothesis that B. cereus might contribute to clinical diarrhea, gizzard erosion, and lung infection in duck and poultry, and that it contaminates animal-derived foods resulting in toxicity and antibacterial resistance to humans. Therefore, maximal tolerance limits of Bacillus spp. and their potential risks to the animal industry are urgently needed to clarify. Moreover, Bacillus spp.–induced toxin residual must be altered for human health via food chain transmission.

Although Chlamydia trachomatis is a human genital tract pathogen, chlamydial organisms have frequently been detected in both vaginal and rectal swab samples of animals and humans. The plasmid-encoded pGP3, a genital tract virulence factor, is essential for Chlamydia muridarum to colonize the mouse gastrointestinal tract. However, intracolon inoculation to bypass the gastric barrier rescued the colonization ability of a pGP3-deficient C. muridarum mutant, suggesting that pGP3 is required for C. muridarum to reach but not to colonize the large intestine. The pGP3-deficient mutant was rapidly cleared in the stomach and was 100-fold more susceptible to gastric killing. In mice genetically deficient in gastrin, a key regulator for gastric acid production, or pharmacologically treated with a proton pump inhibitor, the ability of pGP3-deficient C. muridarum to colonize the gastrointestinal tract was rescued. The pGP3-dependent resistance was further recapitulated in vitro with treatments with HCl, pepsin, or sarkosyl. In the genital tract, deficiency in pGP3 significantly reduced C. muridarum survival in the mouse vagina and increased C. muridarum susceptibility to vaginal killing by ∼8 times. The pGP3-deficient C. muridarum was more susceptible to lactic acid killing, and the pGP3 deficiency also significantly increased C. trachomatis susceptibility to lactic acid. The above-described observations together suggest that Chlamydia may have acquired the plasmid-encoded pGP3 to overcome the gastric barrier during its adaptation to the gastrointestinal tract and the pGP3-dependent resistance may enable chlamydial evasion of the female lower genital tract barrier during sexual transmission.