Controlling the Colonization of <i>Clostridium perfringens</i> in Broiler Chickens by an Electron-Beam-Killed Vaccine
Palmy R. Jesudhasan,
Sohini S. Bhatia,
Kirthiram K. Sivakumar,
Chandni Praveen,
Kenneth J. Genovese,
Haiqi L. He,
Robert Droleskey,
Jack L. McReynolds,
James A. Byrd,
Christina L. Swaggerty,
Michael H. Kogut,
David J. Nisbet,
Suresh D. Pillai
Affiliations
Palmy R. Jesudhasan
Poultry Production and Product Safety, USDA-ARS, 1260 W Maple St., O-306 POSC Building, University of Arkansas, Fayetteville, AR 72701, USA
Sohini S. Bhatia
National Center for Electron Beam Research, An IAEA Collaborating Centre for Electron Beam Technology, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX 77843, USA
Kirthiram K. Sivakumar
National Center for Electron Beam Research, An IAEA Collaborating Centre for Electron Beam Technology, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX 77843, USA
Chandni Praveen
National Center for Electron Beam Research, An IAEA Collaborating Centre for Electron Beam Technology, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX 77843, USA
Kenneth J. Genovese
Food and Feed Safety Research Unit, USDA-ARS, 2881 F and B Rd, College Station, TX 77845, USA
Haiqi L. He
Food and Feed Safety Research Unit, USDA-ARS, 2881 F and B Rd, College Station, TX 77845, USA
Robert Droleskey
Food and Feed Safety Research Unit, USDA-ARS, 2881 F and B Rd, College Station, TX 77845, USA
Jack L. McReynolds
Arm & Hammer Animal and Food Production, Church & Dwight Co. Inc., 6935 Vista Drive, West Des Moines, IA 50266, USA
James A. Byrd
Food and Feed Safety Research Unit, USDA-ARS, 2881 F and B Rd, College Station, TX 77845, USA
Christina L. Swaggerty
Food and Feed Safety Research Unit, USDA-ARS, 2881 F and B Rd, College Station, TX 77845, USA
Michael H. Kogut
Food and Feed Safety Research Unit, USDA-ARS, 2881 F and B Rd, College Station, TX 77845, USA
David J. Nisbet
Food and Feed Safety Research Unit, USDA-ARS, 2881 F and B Rd, College Station, TX 77845, USA
Suresh D. Pillai
National Center for Electron Beam Research, An IAEA Collaborating Centre for Electron Beam Technology, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX 77843, USA
Clostridium perfringens (Cp) is a Gram-positive anaerobe that is one of the causative agents of necrotic enteritis (NE) in chickens, which leads to high mortality. Owing to the ban of administering antibiotics in feed to chickens, there has been an increase in the number of NE outbreaks all over the world, and the estimated loss is approximately 6 billion U.S. dollars. The best alternative method to control NE without antibiotics could be vaccination. In this study, we exposed three different strains of Cp to electron beam (eBeam) irradiation to inactivate them and then used them as a killed vaccine to control the colonization of Cp in broiler chickens. The vaccine was delivered to 18-day old embryos in ovo and the chickens were challenged with the respective vaccine strain at two different time points (early and late) to test the protective efficacy of the vaccine. The results indicate that an effective eBeam dose of 10 kGy inactivated all three strains of Cp, did not affect the cell membrane or epitopes, induced significant levels of IgY in the vaccinated birds, and further reduced the colonization of Cp strains significantly (p < 0.0001) in late challenge (JGS4064: 4 out of 10; JGS1473: 0 out of 10; JGS4104: 3 out of 10). Further studies are necessary to enhance the efficacy of the vaccine and to understand the mechanism of vaccine protection.
