Infectious laryngotracheitis (ILT) is a highly contagious upper respiratory tract disease of chicken caused by a Gallid herpesvirus 1 (GaHV-1) belonging to the genus Iltovirus, and subfamily Alphaherpesvirinae within Herpesviridae family. The disease is characterized by conjunctivitis, sinusitis, oculo-nasal discharge, respiratory distress, bloody mucus, swollen orbital sinuses, high morbidity, considerable mortality and decreased egg production. It is well established in highly dense poultry producing areas of the world due to characteristic latency and carrier status of the virus. Co-infections with other respiratory pathogens and environmental factors adversely affect the respiratory system and prolong the course of the disease. Latently infected chickens are the primary source of ILT virus (ILTV) outbreaks irrespective of vaccination. Apart from conventional diagnostic methods including isolation and identification of ILTV, serological detection, advanced biotechnological tools such as PCR, quantitative real-time PCR, next generation sequencing, and others are being used in accurate diagnosis and epidemiological studies of ILTV. Vaccination is followed with the use of conventional vaccines including modified live attenuated ILTV vaccines, and advanced recombinant vector vaccines expressing different ILTV glycoproteins, but still these candidates frequently fail to reduce challenge virus shedding. Some herbal components have proved to be beneficial in reducing the severity of the clinical disease. The present review discusses ILT with respect to its current status, virus characteristics, epidemiology, transmission, pathobiology, and advances in diagnosis, vaccination and control strategies to counter this important disease of poultry.

This work has been undertaken to study the occurrence of Clostridium perfringens contamination in the poultry feed ingredients and find out its in-vitro antibiotic sensitivity pattern to various antimicrobial drugs. Two hundred and ninety-eight poultry feed ingredient samples received at Poultry Disease Diagnosis and Surveillance Laboratory, Namakkal, Tamil Nadu in South India were screened for the presence of C. perfringens. The organisms were isolated in Perfringens agar under anaerobic condition and subjected to standard biochemical tests for confirmation. In vitro antibiogram assay has been carried out to determine the sensitivity pattern of the isolates to various antimicrobial drugs. One hundred and one isolates of C. perfringens were obtained from a total of 298 poultry feed ingredient samples. Overall positivity of 33.89% could be made from the poultry feed ingredients. Highest level of C. perfringens contamination was detected in fish meal followed by bone meal, meat and bone meal and dry fish. Antibiogram assay indicated that the organisms are highly sensitive to gentamicin (100%), chlortetracycline (96.67%), gatifloxacin (93.33%), ciprofloxacin (86.67%), ofloxacin (86.67%) and lincomycin (86.67%). All the isolates were resistant to penicillin-G. Feed ingredients rich in animal proteins are the major source of C. perfringens contamination.

Haemorrhagic enteritis virus (HEV), an adenovirus associated with acute haemorrhagic gastro-intestinal disease of 6–11-week old turkeys predominantly hampers both humoral and cellular immunity. Affected birds are more prone to secondary complications (e.g. colibacillosis and clostridiosis) and failure to mount an effective vaccine-induced immune response. HEV belongs to the new genus Siadenovirus. Feco-oral transmission is the main route of entry of the virus and it mainly colonizes bursa, intestine and spleen. Both naturally occurring virulent and avirulent strains of HEVs are serologically indistinguishable. Recent findings revealed that ORF1, E3 and fib genes are the key factors affecting virulence. The adoption of suitable diagnostic tools, proper vaccination and biosecurity measures have restrained the occurrence of disease epidemics. For diagnostic purposes, the best source of HEV is either intestinal contents or samples from spleen. For rapid detection highly sensitive and specific tests such as quantitative real-time PCR based on Taq man probe has been designed. Avirulent strains of HEV or MSDV can be effectively used as live vaccines. Novel vaccines include recombinant hexon protein-based subunit vaccines or recombinant virus-vectored vaccines using fowl poxvirus (FPV) expressing the native hexon of HEV. Notably, subunit vaccines and recombinant virus vectored vaccines altogether offer high protection against challenge or field viruses. Herein, we converse a comprehensive analysis of the HEV genetics, disease pathobiology, advancements in diagnosis and vaccination along with appropriate prevention and control strategies.

Newcastle disease (ND) is an economically important, contagious poultry viral disease reported across the globe. In India, ND is endemic and episodes of ND outbreaks despite strict vaccinations are not uncommon. We isolated and characterized seven ND viruses from vaccinated commercial poultry farms during severe disease outbreaks in Tamil Nadu, in Southern India, between April 2015 and June 2016. All the seven isolates were categorized as virulent by mean death time (48–54 hr) in embryonated chicken eggs. Also, their sequences carried the virulence signature of multi‐basic amino acid residues in their fusion protein cleavage site (RRQ/RR/KRF). Phylogenetic and evolutionary distance analyses revealed circulation of a novel sub‐genotype of genotype XIII, class II ND viruses, herein proposed as sub‐genotype XIIIe. The genetic divergence between the circulating virulent strains and the vaccine strains could possibly explain the disease outbreak in the vaccinated flocks. Further, our study signifies the need to implement routine epidemiological surveillance and to revisit the current vaccination program.