The aim of the research was to study the impact of white striping and wooden breast myopathies on the technological quality, mineral, and sensory profile of poultry meat. With this purpose, a total of 138 breasts were selected for a control group with normal breasts (N), a group of breasts characterised by white striping (WS) myopathy, and a group of breasts having both white striping and wooden breast myopathies (WSWB). Data revealed that the simultaneous presence of the two myopathies, with respect to the WS lesion individually considered, had a further detrimental effect on pH (6.04 vs. 5.96; P < 0.05), yellowness (11.4 vs. 10.3; P < 0.01), cooking losses (30.4 vs. 27.6%; P < 0.05), toughness instrumental values (22.8 vs. 20.0 N; P < 0.01), and perception (6.22 vs. 5.56; P < 0.01). In addition, mineral contents suggest that a defective ions regulation is also present in white striping and wooden breast myopathies.

RNA viruses are characterized by high mutation and recombination rates, which allow a rapid adaptation to new environments. Most of the emerging diseases and host jumps are therefore sustained by these viruses. Rapid evolution may also hinder the understanding of molecular epidemiology, affect the sensitivity of diagnostic assays, limit the vaccine efficacy and favor episodes of immune escape, thus significantly complicating the control of even well-known pathogens. The history of infectious bronchitis virus (IBV) fits well with the above-mentioned scenario. Despite being known since the 1930s, it still represents one of the main causes of disease and economic losses for the poultry industry. A plethora of strategies have been developed and applied over time, with variable success, to limit its impact. However, they have rarely been evaluated objectively and on an adequate scale. Therefore, the actual advantages and disadvantages of IBV detection and control strategies, as well as their implementation, still largely depend on individual sensibility. The present manuscript aims to review the main features of IBV biology and evolution, focusing on their relevance and potential applications in terms of diagnosis and control.

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Since their commercialization, vaccines against Porcine circovirus type 2 (PCV2) have been the cornerstone control strategy. Nevertheless, the periodic emergence of new genotype waves and the recent reports of vaccine failure outbreaks have raised the question if widespread vaccination strategies could have driven viral evolution and affected different genotype fitness. To investigate this issue an in-deep analysis, based on a bioinformatics and biostatistics approach, has been implemented. ORF2 sequences from vaccinated and non-vaccinated populations (i.e. domestic pigs before and after vaccine introduction and wild boars) were considered. The action of selective forces on PCV2 strains has been analyzed and compared among groups. Remarkable differences were found in the selective forces acting on viral populations circulating in different “immune environments”. Particularly for PCV2a, a directional selection promoting a change in the viral capsid away from the vaccine specific antigenic determinants has been detected after vaccine introduction. Involved amino acids were previously reported to be part of viral epitopes whose variability is responsible of immune escape. Our findings support a change in PCV2 evolutionary pattern after widespread vaccination introduction and stress once more the compulsoriness of a continuous monitoring of PCV2 epidemiology to promptly act in response to the emergence of possible vaccine-escaping mutants.