ARTICLE FEED & ADDITIVE MAGAZINE August 2022 59 Optimizing strategies to manage coccidiosis in poultry: WHY AND HOW YOUR CONTROL PROGRAM NEEDS TO ADAPT Anticoccidial drugs have been used for decades, but new regulations, consumer preferences and resistance concerns are changing coccidiosis management. Rotation, shuttle, and bio-shuttle coccidiosis programs have become more widely used. A strategic and comprehensive approach can help achieve optimal coccidiosis management. COCCIDIA ARE FOUND ANYWHERE POULTRY ARE RAISED The estimated cost of coccidiosis globally is between USD 9.2 and 15.6 billion, or approximately USD 0.2 per chicken (Blake et al., 2020). This estimate is derived not only from the cost of prophylactics and therapeutics, but also the associated performance and mortality loss. Additional losses due to secondary challenges associated with coccidiosis may also increase the overall economic impact. Many protozoa plague the livestock industry but, in poultry, there are seven Eimeria species of the protozoal parasite coccidia that infect different regions in the intestinal tract (Shirley et al., 1986). Regardless of the site of infection, Eimeria have a complex life cycle that includes stages within the bird and environment. Depending on the Eimeria species, site of infection and life cycle stage, certain prevention strategies may be more effective than others (Chapman and Rathinam, 2022). EVOLUTION OF ROTATION AND SHUTTLE PROGRAMS For more than 50 years, synthetic chemicals, ionophores and the combination of the two have been available for coccidiosis control; however, no new anticoccidial drugs have been developed for many years (Novak et al., 2019). This makes optimizing the currently available coccidiosis strategies even more critical. Not all synthetic chemicals have known modes of action but, in general, chemicals disrupt Eimeria by altering their metabolism during their intracellular life cycle stages, and ionophores disrupt Eimeria by altering osmotic balance during their extracellular life cycle stages (Chapman and Rathinam, 2022). These two anticoccidial drugs have often been used in combination because of their complimentary modes of action and the additional coverage ionophores have on Gram-positive bacteria. This is advantageous because coccidiosis can predispose birds to clostridial enteritis resulting in high mortality rates and production losses. Thus, using chemicals with ionophores or ionophores alone can provide coverage for both coccidiosis and clostridial enteritis. Although combinations of chemicals and ionophores have been used successfully for several decades to combat coccidiosis, development of resistance has been reported (Glorieux et al., 2022). Shelby Ramirez Global Poultry Technical Manager DSM
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